Out of Town News

Late last year, OUT OF TOWN NEWS — the decades-old (it first opened in 1955), news-disseminating hut in the heart of Harvard Square — seemed on the brink of closure when its owner, Hudson News, declined to renew its lease. Uproar resulted as locals lamented the loss of a beloved fixture, and the story spread beyond Cambridge — national and international news outlets covered the story, citing it as a symbol of the death of print media. Consumers, they said, no longer need to flock to Out of Town to snag otherwise hard-to-find publications, such as French Vogue or the Times of India, when they can simply retreat to the giant, fully-stocked, free newsstand that is the Internet. Then in late January, Muckey’s Corp., which runs Patriot Newsstands in Boston, intervened and took over Out of Town’s lease, signing on for another five years, and vowing to change nothing. Print media has been saved! At least in this small way, for now.

OUT OF TOWN NEWS | Zero Harvard Square, Cambridge | 617.354.7777