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The Head of the Charles Regatta brings hundreds of thousands of spectators and more than 11,000 athletes to the banks of the Charles River. But they don’t stay there — many venture into Harvard Square for food, shopping, and entertainment, bringing an annual explosion of consumer activity to local businesses.
Paul J. MacDonald, the owner of Leavitt & Peirce, said his specialty gifts and games shop saw a triplefold of transactions over the weekend.
“I think there’s just less places for people to go to now, so we were flooded, and people walk by the store that just they’re drawn into it just because of the uniqueness," he said.
Denise A. Jillson, the executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association, wrote in a statement to The Crimson that the yearly competition is one of the biggest boosts for the local economy, alongside events like commencement, the Harvard-Yale football game, and Oktoberfest.
“The Head of the Charles Regatta is incredibly significant for the Square; its positive economic impact cannot be overstated,” Jillson wrote.
On Saturday night, a line spilled out of the Hong Kong Restaurant — a staple of the Square since 1954 — and extended all the way down the block. Paul Lee, the president of Hong Kong Restaurant, wrote in a statement to The Crimson that the long line is not uncommon during the regatta weekend.
“We eventually got everyone into the bar,” he wrote. “It took til after midnight to wind down the line.”
Lee added that they prepared for the busy weekend by ordering supplies and scheduling as many workers as possible.
“The best part was holding gold medals that Olympians have won and of course, finding where everyone is from and how they fared in the races,” he wrote.
Alejandro Valdez, the assistant manager for the Harvard Square location of J.P. Licks, said that the store had to almost double their workforce during the weekend.
“In a regular weekend, we try to keep maybe six or seven people on the floor,” Valdez said. “But for Friday and Saturday, and yesterday, we got around 10, 11 people working.”
“We always try to be prepared when it's coming,” he added.
Other businesses had to adapt throughout the workday to accommodate the higher foot traffic.
“We weren’t really prepared staffing-wise at first, so we called in some people to just cover breaks,” Lucci M. O’Keefe, the assistant manager at Zinnia Jewelry, said.
“We didn’t know weather wise, if it’s not the best weather, it’s not always the biggest crowd, because last year it wasn’t as busy,” O’Keefe added.
Jillson wrote that other nearby events on the same weekend like the No Kings March, Harvard-Merrimack football game, and a vintage market added to the bustle of the Square.
“On the whole, the weather was perfect and the weekend vibe was quintessential Harvard Square,” she wrote.
For many businesses, the regatta offers an annual chance to share a piece of Harvard Square with people from all over the world.
“I think the event has just grown to a global event,” MacDonald, the owner of Leavitt and Peirce, said.
Chelsea Maranhao, who works at the Memory Shop, a Korean-inspired photobooth store, said that it was “really cool” to see a group of people from London who visited the store over the weekend.
“I feel like Harvard, you get the students, you get the tourists, but it’s really cool to see people from different countries coming to Memory Shop, because it feels like it’s a sentimental value,” Maranhao added.
— Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com.
— Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com.
