Boylston Street should be bustling, but many storefronts sit empty

Eataly, UnderArmour, and Tesla have taken Boylston Street by storm, setting records for retail rents in the city. But down the street, one of the most prominent blocks in the Back Bay still feels downright desolate.

Instead of a bustling thoroughfare, the stretch of Boylston Street between Arlington and Berkeley streets is a sea of empty storefronts.

In the past year alone, the block has lost two of its longstanding tenants — the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill and the Tannery Outlet shoe store. The highly visible corner building at 330 Boylston, which once housed the flagship location of jeweler Shreve, Crump, and Low, has been empty for nearly a decade. A few doors down, the seasonal Halloween City’s jack-o-lantern sign grins above a for-lease sign. Elsewhere on the block, a RadioShack, a Jos. A. Bank, and Cosi have recently shuttered.