Dear Mr. Chambers:

As the director of University Properties, I would like to offer my perspective on David Honneus' recent column on the Yale 1962 web site about the decision by the Isaacs' family to close Barrie Ltd. As John Isaacs publicly stated, the lease with Yale is one of several issues that led to his decision to close his stores in both New Haven and Hartford.

We believe that Broadway should be a vibrant and accessible shopping district for the students, faculty, staff and other members of the community and suburbs, many of whom can not shop until the evening. Accordingly, when leases for stores in University Property spaces on Broadway are renewed or new leases written, standard operating hours and days of operation are part of the lease. It would be unfair, not only to those who prefer to shop in the evening, but also to the other Broadway merchants if Barrie Ltd. were to operate on a different schedule. I might also point out that other locally owned family operated merchants on Broadway such as Culter's and Gourmet Heaven find the operating hours very advantageous for their sales. In fact of the 31 merchants in the Broadway District, all but 6 are open in the evenings and on Sunday.

In discussion with John Isaacs, he acknowledged and supported the rationale for these standards but felt he did not want to run his business this way which is his prerogative. He and I talked openly about other opportunities which would enable him to stay in New Haven but ultimately he decided, as he said in the Yale Daily News, that "based on many criteria" he would close both stores.

With respect to Yale's retail philosophy, it is our stated objective to lease our retail spaces to local independent merchants. In fact, of our more than 70 retail leases, only 5 are with national chains. The overwhelming majority of our merchants are independent local and often family owned businesses. Recent additions include Ashley's Ice Cream, Mexicali Grille, the Toy Store on Audubon and Sogno Boutique of Dreams. Gourmet Heaven II is about to open with the same local family operating it as Gourmet Heaven on Broadway, and Bistro La Mensa behind the Yale Bookstore is under construction, once again owned by a local restaurateur. This builds on numerous other examples, including Sandra's Restaurant another local family owned business employing 30 people who we helped to expand from its original Congress Ave. site to Whitney Ave.

As a life long resident of New Haven, and purchaser of Barrie's shoes for more than 40 years, I too am sorry that the Isaacs' decided to close their New Haven store. However, I respect their right to do so and John Isaacs' desire to pursue a new career.

Sincerely,
David I. Newton