J. August on Mass. Ave. has dropped its men’s clothing in favor of Harvard apparel.

Markarian says that the store used to provide special clothing items for commencement, such as the tails which attached to the gowns of class marshals.

“Day before Commencement it was a madhouse,” he says. “It had a certain clientele.”

J. August Manager Dimitri Tragos says that the store has had to evolve.

“It was a men’s clothing store that dealt with fashions of times—sport jackets, tweeds...Geared to Harvard administration, professors, rather than kids,” he says. “Certainly the market for gentleman’s clothing has been taken over by big chains...We’ve changed. [Now we’re] catering to students and tourists.”

The University Theater, once with one screen and an entrance on Mass Ave., is now the five-screen Loews on Church St.

“The balcony had wicker chairs in it. [You would] get a ticket to sit in the wickers which were more comfortable than those below,” William King says.

Alums and merchants say that in the 1950s the Coop was smaller but managed to offer a more extensive collection of goods, including hockey sticks and records in addition to books and apparel.

“The Coop was an honest to God viable general store where you could get sweaters, underwear,” says Tony Ferrante ’46, the owner of the Ferrante-Dege camera store, which he opened in 1955.

Solano, the owner of the Grolier Poetry Shop, says that even among the dozens of bookstores that lined the Square, the Coop’s collection stood out.

“Bookstores were everywhere. Every block and side street had two of them...The Coop had one of every title published by good publishing firms,” she says.

Markarian praised the store’s “great record department” and “enormously knowledgeable staff.”

The Coop’s main music competitor was Briggs and Briggs, which offered a listening station for records. The store closed in 2000 to be replaced by the first of two Adidas stores on the site.

The Brattle Square Florists once devoted half of its space to selling fruit. Store manager Stephen Zedros says that the advent of airfreight made it easier to receive fresh flowers, so the store abandoned its fruit selling.

Zedros adds that cars would park right in front of the store, where there is now a sidewalk.