<p>As a prominent department store in Harlem, Blumstein`s interaction with the community was important. First founded in 1886 downtown by German-Jewish immigrant Louis Blumstein, when Blumstein`s moved uptown to Harlem, it became the fanciest retailor. Blumstein`s was frequented by the uptown German-Jewish population. </p><p>When Louis Blumstein died in the 1920s, his sons tore the old department store down and invested one million into what would become the Saks Fifth Avenue uptown. A building adorned in limestone and copper with a lighted sign, the department store symbolized all things wealth </p>

 West 125th Street in 1943 bustled with taxicabs, streetcars and nicely-dressed shoppers.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;  

Blumstein's Department Store Building

 Across the street is the site of the former Blumstein's Department Store at 230 West 125th Street. Designed by architects Charles Kohn and Charles Butler in 1923, it was an amalgam of late Art Nouveau and Early Art Deco styles. In its day, it was one of the most elegant department stores uptown. 