Bob Slate will close its local chain of stationery stores in March after serving Harvard and Porter Square for 78 years, store ownership announced on Thursday. The company, officially Bob Slate, Stationer, has been seeking a buyer since October 2009. It chose two years ago not to renew its Harvard Square lease covering its Harvard Square locations due to “declining sales” and “advancing age,” according to a letter to its patrons on its website.
Bob Slate’s Stationer, a Harvard Square staple for more than 75 years, said it will close its three Cambridge stores by the end of March after a lengthy search for a new owner failed to yield a suitable buyer.
A touchscreen gadget the size of a Moleskine notebook sits propped up at the end of the table at Uno Chicago Grill. It’s not on every table, but certain returning customers ask to be seated where they’re placed. During the busy lunch service at Au Bon Pain, employees greet customers and take customized sandwich orders using iPads. While customers wait for their sandwiches to be made, they can purchase a bowl of soup or order a freshly tossed salad.
Harvard students and faculty joined University President Drew G. Faust and the greater Cambridge community yesterday outside the Holyoke Center to raise awareness about shopping opportunities at local businesses at the second annual Crimson Shops Local event.
The growers who attend farmers’ markets already know you can bring the country into the city. Now the cityfolk have picked up on the same idea. Last weekend, truly local food suppliers converged on Harvard Square for the second annual Urban Agricultural Fair, where visitors could find all kinds of Cambridge-produced foods, from rat-tailed radishes to a mystery melon.
Students scavenging for caffeine at Crema Cafe or searching to quell a sugar fix at Hidden Sweets may have noticed Harvard Square’s own “Green Monster,” a large construction pit blockaded by fences covered in green tarp. The tarps conceal a construction project that will result in a renovated staircase, as well as a new elevator connecting the Brattle Square Plaza to the Red Line Upper Bus Platform.
“I don’t know what happened, they didn’t give us no explanation – they just took it out, “ said Dennis Coveney, “president” of The Chair Club. “It would have been considerate if they told us in advance.”
Harvard will open its gates to about 1,000 prospective students this weekend under the heading of a new unofficial name: Visitas. The new moniker for the program is one of several changes to the annual weekend geared toward introducing admitted students to life at Harvard. The Undergraduate Admissions Council solicited suggestions in the fall for a new, more Harvard-specific name, said UAC Co-Chair Kevin X. Liu ’11.
Forty Winks, a new lingerie boutique on 56 JFK St. above Shay’s Pub and Wine Bar, opened its doors last Friday, hoping to meet Harvard Square’s demand for lingerie. The store’s owners, Rachel A. Wentworth and Meredith W. Donaldson—both former employees at Harvard Square’s Mint Julep—said Forty Winks differs from other lingerie outlets such as Victoria’s Secret in that its image is not about sex.
Although the red Chinese lanterns decorating Harvard Square had been destroyed by last week’s high winds and torrential rains, Mass Ave. was alive with firecrackers, drums, and lion dancers during the Hong Kong restaurant’s Chinese New Year’s celebration yesterday.