Shelagh Racicot, the visual merchandiser at Adidas, said sales at the store have been “steady.”

“It comes in waves. It’s been slow. [Then], pretty good,” she said. Racicot added that the store will add a sign soon, a change that she thinks will make business pick up.

Another eatery returned to the Square after a leave of absence.

The Baskin Robbins and Dunkin’ Donuts made famous in the movie Good Will Hunting returned to a storefront at the corner of Mass. Ave and Bow Street in September, adjacent to a location they had vacated three years prior.

For yet another new restaurant, business has been booming. The line at Felipe’s Taqueria frequently stretches to the door.

Moving in only two months after Real Taco failed in December, Felipe’s co-owner Tom Brush said business at the taqueria was so strong that it was often hard to close at the end of the day.

TOO SOON TO TELL

Although DiGiovanni praised the flurry of openings as a positive development, he warned that the new shops would have to weather the Square’s environment.

“[This year] places went out and other things [went] in quickly,” said DiGiovanni, who is the president of the Harvard Square Business Association. “[But you] hope you get it right. We obviously didn’t with Real Taco.”

And while some worried about keeping new stores open, others expressed concern about the impact of the changes.

Harvard Square Defense Fund (HSDF) President Jinny Nathans said the Cross store did not fit the character of the Square.

“You hate to lose a neighborhood service business...for what is essentially another gift [shop],” she said.

Newmark said that as more and more upscale stores move in, the Square’s draw would deteriorate.

“It’s like a mall now. You can go to the mall and get the same things.”

Tony Ferranti, owner of the Ferranti Dege camera store, noticed the same trend.