8128 Mack Avenue
Fred J. Reif Upholstery, Angotts Cleaners, Angotts Magic Cleaners, Richard’s Automotive Center, Doers of the Word
(The address includes 8128-8130 Mack Avenue)
Some of my favorite structures to research are small ones like this that feature a business on the main floor and an apartment upstairs. There’s nothing special about them; however, I’ve always dreamt of living in a walkable community chocked full of structures like this, with business owners living in the apartments while running mom-and-pop stores below.
The structure pictured here, originally 1102 Mack Avenue, was built in the 1910s. After the city-wide address change, it became 8130 Mack Avenue. The apartment upstairs was 8128 Mack.
According to the Polk City Directory from 1928-29, the business was an upholsterer run by Fred J Reif and his son, Fred Jr. In 1936, the operation was still there. Fred Reif previously worked at Keenan & Jahn.
By 1942, the structure had been sold or rented to the Angott family. That year, a baby girl was born to Margaret Angott, who I believe was the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Angott. The family ran Angotts Cleaners on the main floor. It would later be called Angotts Magic Cleaners.
The structure continued to operate as a cleaner until at least 1958. That year, there was a bad fire on the main floor. Bernard Quinn and James P. Carolan, two Detroit Police Officers, heard the burglar alarm going off inside the structure when they passed during their shift.
The officers rushed upstairs through thick smoke to wake up Peter, 76, his wife Elizabeth, 66, and their granddaughter, Theodora, 16. The fire occurred 16 years after Margaret Angott gave birth to a daughter, so I assume this was her daughter. She was not mentioned in the article.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the blaze was reported to have caused $7,000 in damages to the shop downstairs, roughly $75K in 2023. The apartment suffered smoke damage.
By 1972, Richard’s Automotive Center had moved into the structure. It would remain there until at least 1996, offering auto parts and accessories to the neighborhood. The company once had locations at 13801 Fenkell, 18360 Fenkell, 12910 E Jefferson, 4238 E Davison, and 3600 Mack.
In May 2005, Mark Anthony was photographed painting the structure. He was prepping the building to become Doers of the Word church, run by pastor Otis Harvill.
According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the Doers of the Word was incorporated in 2005 by Otis and Marilyn Harvill and Curtis Blackwell. The nonprofit’s purpose was “to create service and spiritual guidance to the communities and people of Detroit.” The organization was dissolved in 2008.
A few years ago, the structure was painted, probably to avoid blight tickets. The building down Mack is collapsing, and the parking lot up Mack has been cleaned up recently and is owned by the same LLC that owns the Deutsches Haus across the street, which I’ll be highlighting here sometime soon.
There are numerous structures like this one on Mack Avenue, but there’s a tiny fraction of how many there were at one time. Hopefully, considering this one got a paint job in recent years and appears to be looked after, it’ll be saved from the wrecking ball.
This structure was badly damaged by fire in the fall of 2024.
