This article is featured in the 2024 Homecoming Special Issue.
Hanover’s Main Street — an area historically populated by small, mom-and-pop businesses — has undergone several key changes in recent years.
From rent increases to new College policies, several factors have impacted the Main Street landscape. The Dartmouth spoke with students and local business owners to better understand changes to Hanover’s downtown hub.
College-Town Relations
Many businesses rely on the College and its students for their success. According to Lou’s Restaurant and Bakery owner Jarett Berke Tu’17, changes to the College can thus spark disruptions on Main Street. For example, the College’s adoption of winterim in 2012 — a six week break for students from Thanksgiving to New Year’s — has increased seasonal sales fluctuations for Lou’s, Berke said.
“We get a little bit of a bump around Thanksgiving, and then right after Thanksgiving, [business] totally falls on,” Berke said. “And we basically don’t make any profit from December through March.”
In addition to policy changes, College business operations may also impact business downtown. This August, Dartmouth Athletics announced a notable change to Main Street — the upcoming opening of Dartmouth Authentic, an apparel store that will sell Dartmouth merchandise and Athletics gear. The shop will be located across the street from the Dartmouth Coop — a store that has sold Dartmouth merchandise since 1919.
The Dartmouth Coop has remained a staple within the community for more than a century. Founded by John Piane, Class of 1914, to sell Dartmouth insignia and outdoor gear, Gene Kohn ’60 took over the business in 1986 after purchasing the Coop with a group of fellow Dartmouth graduates. Since then, Kohn has experienced steady success, according to the Dartmouth Coop website.
Unlike other small business owners, Kohn said the Coop has not been majorly affected by changes such as winterim. Since the Coop’s business is largely supported by “visitors to Hanover, friends of Dartmouth and Dartmouth alumni,” scheduling changes like the extended winterim “really [haven’t] changed the volume of business,” he explained.
However, Kohn expressed concern about the opening of Dartmouth Authentic, a potential direct retail competitor. While the Coop has vied for customers before — especially in times when similar apparel stores occupied Main Street real estate — the College had, until now, never set up shop, Kohn said.
“It is upsetting only in the sense that it is the first time that Dartmouth College has ever sponsored a retail store that competes with local merchants of any kind, and I find that difficult to understand,” Kohn said.
Other businesses on Main Street that are not in competition with Dartmouth Authentic shared varying opinions on its opening. Berke said he is “excited for … Dartmouth Authentic to be moving in.”
Berke noted that Follet — the College apparel retail company that currently manages the Athletics online shop — will staff and manage Dartmouth Authentic, as it has done online for more than 10 years. According to Berke, Dartmouth Authentic is “just another avenue” for the same business.
Rising Rents
Rising rents have also impacted the Main Street landscape, according to Main Street Kitchens co-owner David Barrette.
Barrette attributed Main Street Kitchen’s 2020 move to Allen Street from 24 South Main Street — which will soon be occupied by Dartmouth Authentic — to rising rent costs following the pandemic.
“We were paying roughly $11,000 a month in rent for that space, and it was a big space in that day and age,” Barette said. “We don’t need as much with online shopping being what it is, so we found a great spot right on Allen Street.”
Kohn also pointed to the onset of online shopping — though he noted that the Coop’s online store kept it operational during and after the pandemic.
“[Over the COVID-19 pandemic,] the online business jumped,” Kohn said. “As we go forward, it is a significant part of our business, and continues to be a growing part of our business.”
While the Coop experienced a jump in business, Barrette explained that his experience with rising costs was not uncommon. For example, Morano Gelato — a beloved Main Street gelato haunt — closed due to the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston.com reported.
“More businesses decided, ‘We’re done,’” Barrette said. “We’re either going to move out of Town to a place with lower rent, or just shutter completely.”
Even businesses that have set up shop beyond Main Street have faced challenges. Recent developments downtown, such as the closure of part of Allen Street — an offshoot of Main Street — this past summer to open outdoor dining areas, have garnered complaints from storeowners over drops in customer traffic.
Ultimately, Barrette said few businesses can afford to remain in Hanover at all.
“It’s become the trend that the only places that can afford to be in Hanover are franchises, banks and real estate offices,” he said.
A Main Street Experience
Ultimately, Main Street today looks very different than decades past — as past Hanover staples have given way to these newer businesses. Campions, an apparel store founded in 1906 by James Campion, had the motto, “Not just a haberdashery, a Dartmouth tradition.” The store, which started out selling men’s clothing, later expanded into women’s fashion in the 1950s. According to Dartmouth Libraries Archives & Manuscripts, Campions “went out of business” in 1991. A second iteration of Campions, focused on higher-end women’s fashion, was run by family members until its closure in 2010 — 104 years after it opened.
Campions is not the only Main Street mainstay to shut its doors. Main Street previously featured other relics like the Chieftain Cafe and The Little Store Exchange. For more than a century, the Dartmouth Bookstore — selling essentials like textbooks and newspapers — served students for their academic needs. Founder E.P. Storrs moved the bookstore to Main Street in 1900, and it remained there until its closure on Christmas Eve, 2018, according to Dartmouth Alumni Magazine archives.
While some change has been gradual, Tabitha Klein ’24 — who currently works at Still North Books & Bar — said she observed rapid store turnover during her time as a student.
“I remember Morano Gelato was a huge thing that everyone was talking about when I had my tour [in 2019],” Klein said. “…I was also shocked that the Dartmouth Bookstore just wasn’t there anymore.”
Despite recent shakeups, Barrette said he remains hopeful for the future of small businesses in Hanover. He added that the Hanover Downtown Group — a “loose association” of store owners and landowners — has been working “closely” with community outreach at Dartmouth’s Office of the President to “amplify downtown events.”
“We’re still in talks, but we’re going to formalize and then start …, hopefully, our own 501(c)(3),” Barrette said.
Tabitha Klein ’24 is a former Mirror writer for The Dartmouth. She was not involved in the writing or production of this article.
