"[It] is viewed as a pretty interesting neighborhood," Moore says. He adds that the square was named as one of the nation's 15 up-and-coming neighborhoods in the Utney Reader, which he describes as a "yuppie magazine."

Those yuppies follow the trend and buy from Moore's eclectic and extensive selection of used books. His advance copies of books and focus on specialized and hard-to-find subjects draw customers out to his store.

"There's not really that much left in Harvard Square that you can't get elsewhere," he says.

Across the way from the new McIntyre & Moore, Buck-a-Book's bright green sign advertises new books for only a dollar. Down the street, the funky Someday Cafe and the Somerville Theater liven up the nightlife. It seems that McIntyre & Moore is again in its element.

Moore recalls the abundance of used bookstores in the Harvard Square of yore. He says McIntyre & Moore would thrive in any community full of artists and students, plenty of trendy bars, theaters, restaurants and places to hear live music. His description matches the old stereotype of Harvard Square.

McIntyre & Moore joins a procession of small businesses that have recently left Harvard Square. The Mass Army Navy Store and Seven Stars bookstore moved to Central Square, while Pipeline Records relocated to Inman Square. The stores move because their business models cannot survive in today's Harvard Square.

The new Mass Army Navy Store, at 698 Mass. Ave., carries the same merchandise as the old, but in a brighter, cleaner location. Even though the store lost more than half its square footage in the move, a more logical layout allows customers breathing room between the racks of survival gear.

General manager Matthew Sudhalter says he hopes to attract the same customers, since the new location is closer to MIT and not much farther from Harvard. Rather than change its style to fit changes in Harvard Square, the store moved to a place where it could accommodate its customers.

Like Moore, Sudhalter mourns the changing atmosphere of the Square.

"At one time Harvard Square was synonymous with small, funky businesses," he says.

Stayin' Alive

The shops that emerge as standbys, it turns out, endure by maintaining a loyal client base while paying careful attention to the wants and needs of the masses.

In 1931 Bob Slate first opened his stationery store across the river in Allston, but he soon realized Harvard Square would be a more profitable location. He moved the store to Holyoke Street, where sales stagnated due to a lack of foot traffic.

"He got tired of seeing the same group of kids walk up and down Holyoke Street," says Slate's son Mallory H. Slate, who is now co-owner of the chain of three Bob Slate stores.

Slate then asked the owner of a dry cleaning shop on Mass. Ave. to sell some of his ring binders and pencils. The dry cleaner agreed, business flourished and now Bob Slate is a Square institution. Bob Slate, for his part, cleaned shirts until the 1950's.