TED: VISITORS TO HARVARD SQUARE MIGHT BE EXCUSED FOR BEING
UNNERVED BY WHAT THEY FIND.
VACANT BUILDINGS AND OPPRESSED MILLTOWN’S WORTH OF EMPTY
STOREFRONTS.
BUT THE QUOTE DEATH OF HARVARD SQUARE IS AN OFT TOLD TALE.
A QUICK PEEK INTO OUR ARCHIVES TURNS UP A PIECE FROM 1998.
>> THEN YOU OPEN YOUR EYES AND YOU SEE THE HARVARD SQUARE OF
TODAY, OF 1998.
AND YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE IN THE MALL.
TED: AND ANOTHER SEGMENT BY YOURS TRULY FIVE YEARS LATER.
OUR DEARLY BELOVED HARVARD SQUARE, A VICTIM OF ECONOMIC
CLEANSING.
CAUSE OF DEATH?
AN ADVANCED CASE OF MALL- IFICATION.
>> YOU CANNOT STOP CHANGE, NOR SHOULD YOU TRY.
TED: DENISE OF THE HARVARD BUSINESS ASSOCIATION.
>> YOU ARE NOT THE SAME AS YOU WERE 20 YEARS AGO, AND NEITHER
ARE MY.
IF YOU WERE GOING TO SAY STOP, WHAT YEAR WOULD YOU STOP IT IN?
TED: WITH ALL THE HIGH PROFILE EXITS, IT IS EASY TO OVERLOOK
SOME OF THE ARRIVALS.
INDEPENDENT ENTREPRENEURS WILLING TO PLANT THEIR FLAG HERE
IN THE HIGH-PRICED SOIL OF HARVARD SQUARE AND MAKE A GO OF
IT.
>> I HAVE KNOWN HARVARD SQUARE MY WHOLE LIFE.
TED: BLACK SHEEP BAGELS ON JFK STREET OPENED IN 2019, AND PRIOR
TO THE VIRUS, WAS ROLLING ALONG NICELY.
>> LOVE BEING IN HARVARD SQUARE.
BUSIER THAN WE EVER EXPECTED.
TED: THEY TOOK OVER THE OLD BOATHOUSE SPACE, AND HAVE THEM
FLOCKING AND NOW AT BREAKFAST AND LUNCH FOR BAGELS, COFFEE,
AND LIGHTER FARE.
THEY ALSO HOST YOGA CLASSES AND OCCASIONAL MUSICAL EVENTS AT
NIGHT, ALL PART OF CREATING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY.
>> IT FEELS LIKE A VERY SMALL TOWN COMMUNITY EVEN KNOW WE ARE
IN THIS REALLY BUSY DISTRICT.
TED: OVER ON THE OTHER END OF THE SQUARE, 60 YEARS OF SIZZLE.
>> YOU CAN’T GET RID OF MR.
BARTLETT.
YOU JUST CAN’T.
NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.
TED: MR. BARTLEY’S BURGER COTTAGE WHERE GENERATIONS OF
STUDENTS AND CELEBRITIES HAVE COME TO GET THEIR HIGH-FAT FIX
ON.
>> MEDIUM RARE WITH RINGS.
TED: BILL BARR LEE SAYS HE IS LUCKY TO HAVE HARVARD AS A
LANDLORD.
>> THEY ARE SUPER GOOD TO US.
WE WANT TO BE HERE, AND WE HAVE A GREAT DEAL.
TED: EVEN FOR A LOCAL LANDMARK, IT CAN BE TOUGH TO CUT THE
MUSTARD.
>> RETAIL IS DIFFICULT, RESTAURANTS ARE DIFFICULT,
MASSACHUSETTS IS DIFFICULT.
IT IS A STRUGGLE IN ANY BUSINESS NOWADAYS.
TED: A SENSE OF BELONGING IS KEY TO ANOTHER LONG-RUNNING HARVARD
SQUARE INSTITUTION.
>> IN MANY WAYS IT IS LIKE A CLUB.
TED: THE ANDOVER SHOP, A TINY SHOP FOR MEN THAT HAS ALWAYS
PUNCHED ABOVE ITS WEIGHT.
A BASTION OF IV STYLE WITH A TOUCH OF THE PEACOCK.
THE SHOP WAS PRESIDED OVER BY THE LATE LEGENDARY CHARLIE
DAVIDSON FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS.
KNOWN AS THE BARON OF THE SPOKE, DAVIDSON TOOK THE MEASURE OF
MANY A CELEBRATED SAARC TOTALLY ASKED --
>> IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR HIM TO HAVE LUNCH WITH A FORMER
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, A JAZZ MUSICIAN, OR A NOTED AUTHOR IN A
GIVEN WEEK.
TED: WHEN DAVIDSON DIED, A GROUP OF DEVOTED CUSTOMERS COULD NOT
IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT THE SHOP.
SO THEY BOUGHT IT.
NOW, LONGTIME MANAGER LARRY MAHONEY HAS TAKEN THE HOME,
GUIDING THIS SINGULAR SHOP THROUGH THE CHOPPY WATERS OF AN
EVER-CHANGING HARVARD SQUARE.
>> WHEN I FIRST CAME HERE, I BELIEVE THERE WERE 11 TAILORS.
NOW THERE IS JUST US.
SHAYNA: THE ANDOVER SHOP AND BLACK SHEEP BAGEL CAFE ARE OPEN
FOR BUSINESS.
IN FACT, BLACK SHEEP RECENTLY EXPANDED TO OPEN A SMALL MARKET
IN NEARBY CAMBRIDGEPORT.
AS FOR MR. BARTLEY’S, LAST SUMMER BILL ANNOUNCED HE WOULD
PUT THE BELOVED RESTAURANT ON THE MARKET.
BUT THE GRILL IS STILL SIZZLING, AND HE SAID HE ONLY WANTS A
BUYER WHO WILL KEEP THE RESTAURANT GOING.
NEXT, PETER WOLF STROLLS MEMORY LA