“The Square has been less hospitable to the general buying public,” he said. “The uniqueness of the past 40, 50 years has been mom and pop stores, [but an] awful lot of that is gone.”

KEEPING UP

As new stores crept in, several existing businesses reported increased sales.

Some store owners said they had managed to thrive in the Square business climate by keeping up with consumer trends.

Michael Braverman, the owner of Hidden Sweets, said that even though the Square was “a lot more crowded 10 years ago,” the store he opened in Brattle Square last June had done well because he sold a fresh variety of gifts, party goods, cards and candy.

“I work very hard and long to make it work. [It’s] an exciting location,” he said. He added that he had no plans to close the original Hidden Sweets on Church Street next to the Loews Theater.

At the Vitamin Shoppe, assistant manager Jesse Rizutko said sales were up because of the Atkins diet craze.

Tarek Hassan, the owner of the Tannery, said his business had increased 10 percent since last year because of the popularity of Arches and sneakers.

“[It’s] just because of the mix of the products—some new—Arches, sneakers being important...business is good,” he said.

TOURIST TRAP

Despite increased sales, Hassan said he would have liked to have seen more tourists over the last year.

Ferranti echoed the complaint and said business at the camera store was “pretty bad.”

“For years we did have 12 months of the year of tourist trade—buses lined up—and they’d start buying,” he said. “I think the U.S. [today] is not a particularly pleasant place for Europeans, South Americans, Asians to come to. We’ve managed to alienate a lot of the world.”

He added that the increased popularity of digital photography was also hurting business.

But Robyn Thieringer, executive director of the Cambridge Office for Tourism, said there was hope for a resurgence of visitors.