A snapshot of Asian culture is set to light up Harvard Square with the anticipated openings of photo booth store Memory Shop and Anime Zakka this June.
Father and son pair Henry and Brian Cheung are separately launching Korean-style photo booth store Memory Shop and Anime Zakka — a family-owned Japanese anime shop — both located in The Garage on JFK St.
Brian Cheung, a senior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said he was inspired to open Memory Shop after traveling to Vietnam last summer.
He noticed that photo booth stores were very common in Asia and wanted to bring that experience to the United States.
“Some streets had four photobooth stores on the same street,” Brian Cheung said.
“To be honest, we went to every single one, and it was just a super fun experience.”
Reflecting on his travels, he said, “I was like, ‘If it’s this fun, why don’t we have something like this in Boston?’”
Brian Cheung opened Memory Shop on Newbury St. in September 2024 and is now planning to expand into Harvard Square.
He expressed eagerness to harness the “Harvard energy” of the Square to cater to the “college crowd” and “local visitors” that frequent the area.
The store, he believes, will help restore the vintage charm of Harvard Square that he recalls from his childhood.
“Ever since I was a kid, I remember Harvard Square being that vintage place where you can hang out,” Brian Cheung said.
“There’s a lot of small things you can do, but lately I feel like it lost a little bit of fire — there’s something missing.”
Henry Cheung, who grew up visiting Harvard Square and managed an Anime Zakka store in The Garage from 2012 to 2021, shares his son’s sentiments.
“Harvard Square is supposed to be like, very local, school area,” Henry Cheung noted.
“But now? Totally different. All the big corporations there, they don’t even know who you are.”
Brian Cheung believes that his family’s businesses can help shift this trend.
“Just bringing back Anime Zakka plus Memory Shop in that main Harvard Square center would boost the fun that everyone can have,” he mentioned.
“Our end goal is just to have everybody have fun. We just want everyone to make memories of each other, bring it home, share with their family.”
Henry Cheung echoed these sentiments, emphasizing his motivation to restore Anime Zakka to the Square to
image source from：https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/4/14/photo-booth-harvard-square/
