Koo de Kir Is 'Going On With Business'

Although Koo de Kir closed its retail store at the corner of Chestnut and River streets just before Thanksgiving, owner Kristine Irving said that it's not because the Charles Street area is difficult on small business, but rather she decided to focus the interior design aspect of her business.

"It was a big transition for Koo de Kir," Irving said. "Basically, it came down to me making a decision of which business I wanted to focus on." Irving decided around the beginning of September to close the home furnishings store that for 16 years had occupied a Chestnut Street corner (starting where J. McLaughlin is now and expanding to River Street). 

"I call it a 'going on with business,'" rather than a going out of business, she said.

The design studio, which has been at 45 River St. since 2006, is still very much open. 

Irving also takes issue with some recent characterizations of Charles Street as a tough place for a small business. "There are good retailers here and there are people who have been here for a long time," she said, pointing to long-standing businesses such as Linens on the Hill and Flat of the Hill. 

"Small business is cyclical. I think it's a natural cycle," Irving said of the openings and closings along the street. The nature of having a brick-and-mortar business today "makes people have to be more creative."

"There are challenges to doing business on Charles Street," she said, commenting on the lack of parking, "but at the same time, there is no other neighborhood like this in Boston."