Christos Soillis, the owner of Felix Shoe Repairs, says a successful old business survives by “doing the best job you can do.”

“Do the right thing and they will find out and come to you,” Soillis says.

Macdonald says staying true to its niche of gifts, games, and tobacco has allowed Leavitt & Peirce to be a “torchbearer” for the old Harvard Square.

TUCKED IN THE CORNERS

As he stood outside the soon-to-be location of his first frozen yogurt shop, Matthew A. Wallace, the co-owner of Berryline, panicked as he counted only 20 people walking by in four hours. Without foot traffic, he feared customers would never find out about his business.

Wallace’s fears are emblematic of a problem faced by many small businesses, which often cannot afford to pay the high rents of prime real estate locations that receive the most foot traffic.

But the Berryline location has nonetheless become popular among the Harvard Square community.

“We were totally bootstrapping it, and the students really embraced it,” Wallace says. “People identified with us.”

Nhon T. Ma, the owner of Zinneken’s—a Belgian waffle shop set to open in August—also secured a space in the back corner of the Square, above Berryline. Ma and Wallace both hope that the location will become more of a destination due to the opening of this new business.

Otto Pizza is located at the center of the Square but faces size limitations at only 280 square feet.

“People said you’ll never get that space. That’s going to a national, but not many other food places can work in the size limitations,” says Anthony W. Allen, the pizza place’s co-owner.

Some businesses have been pushed to less prominent sites. Schoenhof’s—a foreign-language bookstore—opened in 1856 and used to reside on Mass. Ave. But it moved to 76 Mount Auburn St. in 1983 and has stayed there since.

“A lot of people think the Square’s being taken over by chains, but there are lots of independents buried between them,” says Ayr M. Muir, owner and founder of the Holyoke Street restaurant Clover.

A PLACE FOR INNOVATION

Harvard Square has served as one of the first locations for what are now regional or national businesses, including Bertucci’s and Au Bon Pain, and national businesses continue to use the area as a testing ground for new projects like Starbucks’ recently opened two-story location.