The closing of Bowl and Board is making Davis Square residents ask, why do some businesses fail here? ~Photo by Ashley Taylor 'Normal clothes' among needs, residents say By Ashley Taylor People come to Davis Square to eat, drink, and buy camera supplies. They leave Davis Square to buy groceries, general merchandise, furniture, and clothes. That's according to data that Economic Development Planner Brad Rawson presented at a Davis Square community meeting last Wednesday evening. These conclusions come from a 2007 study where market analysts compared money earned by Davis Square businesses to money spent by Davis Square residents. Davis Square restaurants earn $8.7 million more than what residents spend eating out. Davis Square loses potential dollars in the grocery ($6.6 million), clothing ($3.2 million), furniture ($2.2 million), and general merchandise ($8.7 million) businesses. Residents are spending that money outside of Davis Square.

Davis Square has four restaurants for every three retailers, Rawson reported. Yet it doesn't have a large grocery store or a hardware store. Residents at the meeting complained that Davis Square lacks vendors of "normal clothes," and men's clothes.

Davis Square does have several specialty clothing stores and secondhand shops, but residents spend at least $3.2 million on clothing and accessories outside of the square. Brandon Wilson said clothing stores in Davis Square don't suit the needs of residents. "Not everybody wants to go out and buy second-hand clothing," she said. "I think a lot of the specialty stores tend to be expensive. A lot of the people who live in Somerville and Davis Square, they're not willing to pay those kinds of prices."

One Davis Square clothing store, Poor Little Rich Girl, closed its doors on May 30. The vintage clothing store that left its Davis Square location when the rent grew "too much to bear in this economy," as owner Meredith Byam, posted to the Davis Square LiveJournal. The building, at 255 Elm Street, is owned by Micah Gorin.

"I think it's extremely disappointing and upsetting that the rent structure changed and caused her to have a tremendous amount of difficulty and problems there, and I have told them, directly, that I will fight any restaurant they try to bring there. I think that we're done with restaurants," Gewirtz said

Bowl and Board, the storefront adjacent to Poor Little Rich Girl in the Elm Street building, has also closed. Gewirtz said Ken Kelly, owner of the Independent and the Precinct restaurants, would be opening a restaurant in the space, and may bring back the basement theater once home to Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway.

Many businesses are coming and going in Davis Square these days, and that's what residents talked about Wednesday.

In addition to the Gorin Building, people discussed 187 Elm St, an address described as having "the Carberry's Curse," after Carberry's Bakery and Coffeehouse failed, and a succession of restaurants that opened in the same building followed suit.

A new restaurant and wine bar, Pizzeria Posto, now occupies the building, which has Carberry's tiles on its sides. "Why did Carberry's fail?" resident Dave Dahlbacka wondered. "Why does that spot fail? It's kind of far from the T stop." He continued, "Maybe we need to think a little bit about extending it down Holland and down College instead of pushing it toward Porter Square where people don't want to go because it's far away from the T stop."

Lee Auspitz, a member of the Davis Square Task Force, said the square's limited parking determines the businesses that thrive here. Without parking, people won't buy heavy items. "If you have something that weighs 30 pounds, you're going to take a car to it," he said.