EFORE THE RECENT influx of corporate America into Harlem, local stores supplied neighborhood needs. Small specialized shops catered to residents and usually got to know customers very well. A few black-owned businesses still survive, but new competition from the Harlem USA complex and other area developments may drain the profitability of these mom and pop stores.

Two Harlemites stand out in this struggle to survive: Sikhulu Shange, owner of The Record Shack, and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, owner of Harlem Office Supply.