Give The Shops a Chance

After less than four months, the staff is ready to give up on the Shops by Harvard Yard and call them a failure. They cite the closing of three stores as proof of a trend towards disaster.

Eighty-five percent of businesses do not survive the first five years. It is those who work hard despite these odds who become the core of American business.

Not every shop will succeed, nor will every one be geared towards students. But to condemn the project before the shops have even had the benefit of the summer season--which draws large crowds of non-students to the Harvard Square area--is wrong.

Harvard Real Estate has invested in a project to benefit Harvard financially while assisting entrepreneurial spirit. Let's give time, warmer weather, and continued advertising--along with a touch of persistence--a chance.