Merchandise, Memories and Monetising Legacy
(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims. This article covers the “Merchandising opportunity in India”)
I wasn’t expecting a retail moment inside a Harvard Business School campus. But that’s the thing about retail — it finds you.
The COOP, run jointly by the MIT and Harvard communities, sits unobtrusively within the HBS campus. I almost walked past it. I’m glad I didn’t.
What struck me first was the depth. Not just the range of merchandise, but the depth within each category. Sizes, colours, variants — all available. Not just displayed. Actually in stock.
Anyone who has spent years in Indian retail will know exactly why that distinction matters. Range is easy to claim. Availability is harder to deliver.
I moved through each section the way I always do in a retail format that has something to say — slowly, observantly.
The pricing was nominal — deliberately so. This store isn’t trying to extract maximum value from a captive audience. It is serving a community. That restraint speaks to a retail philosophy I find increasingly rare, and quietly admirable.
The staff were warm and unhurried. Not trained-smile warm. Actually warm.
Before visiting, I had already browsed thecoop.com — same range, same brand identity, consistent experience across channels. I was quietly impressed.
Right until I noticed there was no click-and-collect option for online orders. No store pick-up. In 2026. From an institution that has arguably shaped modern management thinking worldwide. I had to smile.
But that gap aside, the COOP does something far more important than sell merchandise. It monetises legacy.
Harvard and MIT merchandise carries an aspirational weight that no marketing budget can manufacture.
People don’t just buy a mug or a hoodie. They buy belonging. They buy aspiration. They buy a story they want to be part of.
And that’s when my mind travelled back home.
India’s IITs and IIMs command exactly that kind of emotional currency. I have met people across the country — and across the world — for whom an IIT or IIM connection is a life-defining identity.
Alumni who wear that association with quiet, deep pride. Aspirants who dream of it. Parents who speak of it with reverence.
That is not just brand equity. That is retail gold.
And yet, what exists on the ground?
IIM Indore has Merchand-I — sincere and meaningful, but modest in scale. IIT Madras runs a campus gift shop online. CampusMall powers online stores across several institutions.
Third-party aggregators sell branded apparel without institutional ownership, campus presence or meaningful curation.
If I were to seriously consider a start-up opportunity when I return to India, this would be the first one I’d put on the table.
The market is real, the aspiration is built, and the white space is hiding in plain sight.
The COOP didn’t happen by accident.
It is the result of a community deciding that its brand deserved a serious, well-executed retail expression. Someone needs to make that case to India’s premier institutions.
The brand is already built. The store is simply waiting to open.
(I am writing “Boston Days” as a series of articles for quick reference for myself and other retail pilgrims.)
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9 here.
