From the "The Village of Harlem: Its People, Homes and Business – 50th
Anniversary Souvenir 1856 to 1906"
"In sketching the business men of Harlem, while the writer believes that Madison Street has made more successful merchants during the last decade than any other short street in the country, yet their early career was not strewn with roses. Many of them in the beginning struggled against the greatest difficulties. Not the least among these was Mr. Ernst Reich, who was born in Germany in 1864 and came direct to Harlem in 1883. He learned the trade of boot and shoe making in work in all its branches in his native country. In 1892 he opened the first shoe store in Harlem. It was a very small affair, 12 X 16 feet in size, at 163 Madison St. When he had put in his first stock, which consisted of two or three dozen pairs of shoes and rubbers, thieves broke in and decamped with twenty-two pairs of shoes and one pair of rubbers. However, he was not discouraged, but pushed ahead, and today in the large store which he built himself in 1897, at 125 Madison St., he has a very large stock of footwear, also the largest repair department in the village, employing several workmen.
"As a citizen Mr. Reich is very popular, and has the confidence of the people. he was married in 1885 to Miss Paulina Winter, who died in 1905. The had five children -- William, Ernest, Otto, Paul and Elmer."