Updated August 25, 2026, 2:00 a.m.
A view of Harvard Square from the COOP in August 2015.Craig F. Walker
Re “The COOP takes a page out of its past” (Page A1, Aug. 13): To many of us the Harvard COOP was not just where we once worked — it was also a place to make lifelong friends and meet future spouses (we gratefully met there).
Perhaps from a business point of view the bookstore, which seeks to expand beyond Harvard Square, has changed, but to those of us who were employed there as teenagers and morphed into young adults there, the COOP remains a special place. We haven’t been there in a while, but the store still holds dear memories.
Frequent conversation with a customer:
COOP employee: “Do you have a COOP number?”
Visiting customer: “Huh? What’s that?”
COOP employee: “Never mind.”