Building of the Day: 173 Smith Street, New Life for a Storied Brooklyn Retail Store

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former J. Kurtz & Sons store, now Wyckoff House Condominium
Address: 169-173 Smith Street
Cross Streets: Corner Wyckoff Street
Neighborhood: Boerum Hill
Year Built: 1901-1902
Architectural Style: Renaissance Revival
Architect: Albert Ullrich (often spelled Ulrich)
Other works by architect: Row houses in Park Slope, Clinton Hill, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and elsewhere in Brooklyn. Also churches, houses and other buildings in Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Dallas.
Landmarked: No

The story: Jacob and Gittle Kurtz came to America in 1867, settling in New York and then Brooklyn. In 1870, they opened a small store at 175 Smith Street, selling furniture, rugs and carpets and other home furnishings. They were extremely successful and over the years expanded into the storefronts of 169, 171 and 173 Smith Street.

The company celebrated its 17th anniversary with a large picnic at Ulmer Park in Bath Beach. By this time, J. Kurtz & Sons had added women’s clothing to their line of goods and expanded to a second store, at 773-781 Broadway in Bushwick. Both stores had annexes as well — the Smith Street location had its annex at 82-90 Wyckoff Street, around the corner.

The Kurtzes’ family expanded alongside their company — they had a daughter and six sons, three of whom would go on to work in the family business.

Then in 1901, disaster struck.

On June 17, the Smith Street stores caught fire. The fire spread rapidly, consuming furniture, rugs, clothing and other flammable materials, and all four buildings were quickly gutted. A photograph in the Brooklyn Eagle shows the storefronts already destroyed, only half an hour after the fire started.

1901 Brooklyn Eagle

The papers reported that the wind was brisk that day, which fed the fire and made the smoke conditions so bad the firemen were driven away. Jacob Kurtz was on the scene, and he told officials he thought the fire had started in the basement, though it had happened so fast he really wasn’t sure.

Fortunately, the tenants of the surrounding buildings were able to get out in time, although some sustained property damage.

When it was all over, the only things standing were a couple of walls. The damage was estimated at half a million dollars, which would be multi-millions today.

The Kurtzes were undaunted. The next day, they ran an ad in the Brooklyn Eagle offering to cover carfare for anyone traveling from the area to their Bushwick store.

1901 Brooklyn Eagle

A new store was quickly planned for the corner. The company hired an architect named Albert Ullrich to design a beautiful new shopping emporium. Ullrich had recently designed a store for the Batterman Company, a competitor of Kurtz, also in Bushwick.

Ullrich was an accomplished architect, with row-house, church, factory and store experience here in Brooklyn, as well as in Dallas and Philadelphia. Some of his buildings in all three cities have been landmarked.

He did a great job, designing a modern, elegant, four-story building on the corner of Smith and Wyckoff. The building was begun in 1901 and had its grand opening on April 17, 1902. According to the paper, over 20,000 customers were on hand for the grand opening.

1902 Brooklyn Eagle

The Eagle reported that the new store had electric lights in the cornice that illuminated the building at night. Large plate glass windows were installed on the ground floor. The store had all electric lighting inside, and an elevator. The walls and ceilings were painted white, with blue accents. The new store carried the full range of goods that J. Kurtz & Sons had been known for.

The store opened with grand fanfare, and the company continued to grow. In 1917, Ullrich was brought back to add an addition to the store, with a new annex, creating the footprint that the building has today.

A third Brooklyn store and annex was later established on Flatbush Avenue, near Snyder Street. And in 1934, the company expanded once again, opening a new Art Deco store on Jamaica Avenue in Flatbush. That building is now landmarked.

1934 Brooklyn Eagle

Jacob Kurtz died in 1932. His wife, Gittle, died a year later. The three sons who had been running the company since the turn of the century continued to do so; later their descendants took over. J. Kurtz & Sons was in business until 1978.

I was unable to find a date for the Smith Street store’s closing, or to determine how the building was used immediately afterward. Fortunately, this very handsome building has been preserved, and now serves as retail space and living space. It was converted to condominiums in the late 1980s, and now has 42 residential units.

Top and bottom photo by Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark.

1900 Brooklyn Eagle