Jeremiah P. Murphy, Jr.
Improving the Coop's Numbers
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| Reality check: Balancing modernity and tradition in the hippest of Squares, a wise fox minds the Coop. Photo by Steve Boljonis |
It's sad but true: Design Research, the Wursthaus, Elsie's, and a score of other local businesses once patronized by members of the Class of 1977 have long since closed their doors. But those who venture across the river during this year's 25th Reunion will be pleased to find that at least one venerable Cambridge institution is still alive and well, thanks, in large part, to one of their classmates. “We've been in business since 1882,” says Jerry Murphy, president of the Harvard Cooperative Society. “It's a safe bet that we're not going anywhere soon.”
“Careerwise, I went from precious jewelry and furs to sweatshirts and school supplies,” quips the tall, affable, Charlestown, Massachusetts, native, who in 1991 left his job as general manager at Neiman Marcus in Texas to accept the challenge of “putting the Coop on track for the next one hundred years.” Long regarded as the anchor of the Harvard Square retail community, the Coop's number was almost up when Murphy arrived on the scene. As an old-style department store that carried everything from refrigerators to intimate apparel, the store was struggling to compete in the tough retail environment of the early '90s. “Realistically, we were never going to be a chain store with a hundred outlets in the suburbs,” he explains. “Instead of being a department store that happens to sell some books, we needed to become a bookstore that happens to sell some other stuff.”
Like many of the tenets that have guided Murphy's stewardship of the Coop, the focus on books is true to the store's original charter. Founded by a group of thrifty Harvard undergrads who felt Cambridge merchants were charging too much for books and firewood, the Coop has over the years provided the Harvard and MIT communities with a place to buy quality merchandise while sharing in the store's profits through an annually distributed rebate. Membership dues today are $1.00 per year, actually half of what they were in 1882.
Despite an abiding respect for the Coop's storied past, Murphy realized that some traditions had to be sacrificed. He began working with its board of directors — a quirky but powerful 23-member group that includes 11 annually elected Harvard and MIT students — on a restructuring plan that eliminated most nonbook merchandise. Barnes & Noble's college division was invited to manage operations at the store's six locations under the Coop's brand name, while a core Coop management group retained control of Internet and catalogue sales, Coop membership, and interactions with local universities. A $4 million renovation of the Harvard Square flagship store that uncovered the building's original 1925 architectural details was completed in 1998. “We leveraged our three main strengths: our name, our membership, and our real estate,” Murphy notes.
With deep Harvard connections (Murphy is a 1973 College graduate, his daughter graduated last year, and his son is currently a sophomore), Murphy is acutely aware of his legacy. “I don't want to be remembered just as the guy who got the Coop out of suits,” he notes with a grin. After restoring the store's fiscal health, he now looks forward to strengthening services to the Coop's 65,000 paid members and more than 400,000 alumni worldwide by enhancing the line of products and services available online (www.thecoop.com). He may also expand retail operations as the University's Cambridge/Allston footprint grows. “One of the reasons the Coop has survived this long is its ability to respond to the changing needs of the university community,” Murphy states. “That's why we're here.”
— Deborah Blagg (send e-mail to the author)
PROFILES FROM THE CLASS OF 1977
John R. Davis: Nature's Blessing
Michael F. Cronin: A Focus on the Fundamentals
Ann M. Fudge: Enhanced Perspective
Steven C. Watson: Course Change
Karen Gordon Mills: Her Excellent Adventures
Amy S. Langer: Fighting the Good Fight
Jeremiah P. Murphy, Jr.: Improving the Coop's Numbers
