After 86 years, iconic J. Press to close Harvard Square store
Inside J. Press’s venerable Harvard Square shop, little has changed. Customers browse close-set racks of blazers. Shelves of shirts compete with photos and memorabilia for wall space. Only outside the brick storefront is tradition interrupted. Plastered on the windows are fliers: After 86 years, the iconic men’s clothing store is closing its local outlet. “J. Press had been in negotiations with the building’s landlord for terms to maintain its current location on Mount Auburn Street, however, the two parties were unable to come to an agreement,” read a statement issued in the name of Jun Murakami, president of J. Press USA to the Boston Globe. “J. Press takes its history at this location very seriously and tried to work for a way to keep it, but given the increasing rents in the area over the past several years, it did not work.” The first-floor space is leased from the Fly Club. This...