Businesses Well Lived
Businesses included in this chronicle: City Girl Café | Harding House | Joie de Vivre | Sage’s Market | Out of Town News
The COVID-19 pandemic had far-reaching effects for nearly every business and industry. Particularly hard-hit were small businesses, and those in Cambridge were no exception.
Small businesses across Massachusetts closed their doors permanently and reported plummeted revenues. Researchers at Opportunity Insights noted that 37% of Massachusetts’ small businesses closed since the start of 2020, and that total small business revenue fell by 44% over the course of that year.
As part of our ongoing work to capture Cambridge history, we partnered with Cambridge Local First to reach out to local small business owners and find out how the pandemic has affected their livelihood.
Click on a storefront’s name to learn its story: City Girl Café | Harding House | Joie de Vivre
Learn more about other businesses that have come and go over the years in Cambridge for reasons unrelated to the Covid-19 Pandemic: Sage’s Market | Out of Town News
E.R. Sage Co. at 45 Brattle Street, ca. 1953. Courtesy Cambridge Historical Commission. 
The original Out of Town News building in 1955. Image via Cambridge Historical Commission. Original in MIT Museum collection.
Visit Cambridge Local First to learn more about how Cantabrigians are mourning a loss of identity, reporting shutdown of People’s Republik bar