Harry Rothman was born in 1902 and grew up in a Lower East Side tenement building. According to his grandson, Ken Giddon, Rothman had to leave school at 11 to help support Giddon’s widowed grandmother and her six other children. The story is a familiar one: Harry hustled and built his eponymous retail clothing business, which he started in 1926 with a pushcart operation—and then “went upscale” with a horse-drawn ice truck—on East Broadway.

The business grew to what would ultimately become the destination store for men-in-the-know in the ‘50s. Harry passed away in ‘85, and grandson Giddon, the closest thing the family had to a businessman (he was on his way to business school), came to the city to close the shop. But a funny thing happened on the way to the dissolution: Giddon and his younger brother Jim decided to create a fresh incarnation of the store, with a nod to Harry...and thus the new Rothmans was born, no longer a discounter (but offering great value and good prices).

And today, after 25 years, the brothers, who are co-owners, have established the latest embodiment of Rothmans—a block away, with 4,000 more square feet—with an edgier feel and more stylish clothing. But still, Rothmans celebrates its heritage; there are many original fixtures and some new ones built by a Brooklyn craftsman using reclaimed materials. Harry would be proud. -- Ruth J. Katz