As part of the 2011 renovation, the PROMENADE AT MILLCREEK MALL was installed in existing space on the mall's northwest corner. Kirkland's home decor set up shop in August 2015, replacing a shuttered Coldwater Creek store.
Photo from http://www.cafarocompany.com / The Cafaro Company
In 2013, the mall proper, three freestanding strip centers and various outparcels began to be promoted as the MILLCREEK MALL COMPLEX . This encompassed 2.2 million square feet and featured 165 stores and services.
Graphic from http://www.millcreekmall.net
The Southeast Court at MILLCREEK MALL. Sears pulled up stakes and left the shopping hub, with the building being retenanted by Boscov's in late 2017.
Photo from http://www.cafarocompany.com / The Cafaro Company
In 2025, a vacant Burlington Coat Factory space has been rebuilt into a new wing. It houses Mad Mex and Primanti Brothers restaurants, a Guitar Center and Round 1 Bowling & Amusement Center. On the opposite end of the mall, Boscov's has been enlarged. An abandoned Bon Ton, at the front of the mall, was replaced by Dick's Sporting Goods.
MILLCREEK MALL
Peach Street / US 19 and Interchange Road
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Plans for first major shopping mall in Erie County were announced in June 1973. The 24 million dollar project would be built on an 87.5-acre parcel, located 3.4 miles southwest of center city Erie. The site, formerly the Spires Farm and temporary Kearsarge Airfield, was located in a section of Erie County known as Millcreek Township.
MILLCREEK MALL was developed by a joint venture of Youngstown, Ohio's William M. Cafaro Company and the New York City-based Arlen Development Company. Designed by Cleveland's Andrew J. Burin Associates, the fully-enclosed complex would encompass approximately 1,095,700 leasable square feet and feature five anchor stores.
The mall's first operational anchor and store, a 2-level (125,000 square foot) Sears, opened its doors on August 19, 1974. A 2-level (86,800 square foot), Cleveland-based Halle Brother's Company (Halle's) was dedicated in January 1975, followed by a 2-level (160,000 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's, which made its debut on September 9th. A 2-level (148,200 square foot) J.C. Penney was inaugurated on October 1, 1975. The final operational anchor, a 2-level (137,100 square foot), Erie-based Boston Store, was dedicated on November 10, 1975. A mall-wide grand opening was held on that day.
Charter tenants included The Bottom Half, World Bazaar, Foxmoor Casuals, Diana Shop, Forum Cafeteria, Cassano Pizza King, London Bobby Fish & Chips, B. Dalton Bookseller, a (30,000 square foot) Loblaw's Groceteria, (34,000 square foot) J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 and Ashtabula-based Carlisle's junior department store. The General Cinema Corporation Millcreek Mall 3 was dedicated on November 9, 1975.
The nearest mall-type complex in Greater Erie was ERIE CENTRAL MALL (1963) {3.3 miles northeast, in downtown Erie}. This complex, which encompassed 181,700 leasable square feet, was no match for MILLCREEK MALL, which was five times its size. The nearest regional-class complex was MEADVILLE MALL (1970) {30.2 miles southwest, in Crawford County}.
A dizzying succession of anchor store closings, openings and rebrandings commenced at MILLCREEK MALL in July 1979. The Boston Store morphed into a Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company. Horne's was rebranded by a Columbus-based Lazarus in May 1994. Lazarus closed on March 14, 1998 and was replaced by a Dayton-based Elder-Beerman on September 11 of the same year. Elder-Beerman was followed by a York, Pennsylvania-based The Bon Ton in October 2003.
Halle's was the second mall store to change nameplates. The chain folded in 1982, with its MILLCREEK MALL location re-opening as an Erie-based Dahlkemper's Catalog Showroom. This lasted until 1993. On August 1, 1997, Burlington Coat Factory assumed the space, but moved out of the mall in the fall of 2012. The vacant anchor was reconfigured as seven tenant spaces, with a new southwest mall entrance created. A (50,000 square foot) Round One Bowling & Entertainment Center occupied space on two levels. It opened for business on September 1, 2018.
Meanwhile, Carlisle's space, vacated in 1995, was renovated with a small addition. The area was occupied by a Myrtle Beach-based Waccamaw's HomePlace. This store was shuttered on April 1, 2001 and divided between AC Moore Arts & Crafts and Steve & Barry's University Sportswear. The Steve & Barry's chain was liquidated in early 2009. Kaufmann's had been converted into a Macy's on September 8, 2006.
Peripheral structures were added to the shopping center site during the 1980s. These included Children's Palace (1983) and a second multiplex, the General Cinema Corporation Millcreek Mall 6, which was inaugurated on October 19, 1986. A small strip complex -known as MILLCREEK SQUARE- opened in 1988. A larger strip center was proposed by the Cafaro Company in 1989; this to occupy a 62-acre site west of the existing mall. Many hurdles were to be overcome before this addition would come to fruition.
After 10 years of litigation and negotiation, Cafaro was finally able to proceed with the construction of MILLCREEK MALL PAVILION. Ground was broken in the fall of 1998. Stores opened between 1999 and 2002. These included Dick's Sporting Goods, Linens 'n Things and Old Navy. Canton, Massachusetts-based Hills had also dedicated an (85,300 square foot) freestanding store. This closed and re-opened, as a Rocky Hill, Connecticut-based Ames, in July 1999.
An adjacent parcel at the northwest corner of the PAVILION site was being developed as a prospective Regal 12-plex cinema. Work commenced in December 1998, but stopped in September 2001. After two false starts, the project was abandoned. Said cinema was never completed. The in-mall 3-plex was shuttered on March 20, 1997. It was replaced by Waves Music, which morphed into an Albany-based FYE (For Your Entertainment) in November 2002.
Although MILLCREEK MALL had been given a face lift in 1996, by the early 2000s, it was ready for another update. Cafaro announced a mall makeover in March 2008, which was to extend for 7 months. During the remodeling, common areas were refurbished with Italian porcelain floors. New ceiling treatments and skylights were installed and three mall entrances were remodeled. The revitalized MILLCREEK MALL was officially re-dedicated on November 14, 2008.
In 2010, the Bazaar Court area was cleared of tenants and gutted. Most of the mall's west-facing facade was reconfigured. The new PROMENADE AT MILLCREEK MALL featured six upscale stores and restaurants. Firebirds Wood Fired Grill served its first meals on April 18, 2011. Chico's opened its doors on August 29. Other PROMENADE tenants were Charming Charlie, Coldwater Creek, Jos. A. Bank and Lane Bryant.
By 2013, the mall proper, its adjacent strip centers -and most of its outparcels- were being promoted as the MILLCREEK MALL COMPLEX. At this time, the main mall structure encompassed approximately
1,133,300 leasable square feet and contained 121 stores and services.
Sears, a charter anchor, went dark in December 2016. In January, work began on a renovation of the vacant building. It was expanded to 151,000 square feet and re-opened, as a Reading-based Boscov's, on October 5, 2017. This department store's debut was followed by the departure of another. The 14-year-old The Bon Ton at MILLCREEK MALL closed for good in mid-2018.The building was substantially renovated. The building was substantially renovated. Dick's Sporting Goods welcomed first customers on August 18, 2023.
Sources:
The Pittsburgh Press
The Oil City Derrick (Erie, Pennsylvania)
The Erie Times
Erie County, Pennsylvania
https://www.cafarocompany.com / The Cafaro Company
https://www.millcreekmall.net (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.millcreekmall.net
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.erienewsnow.com
"Millcreek Mall" article on Wikipedia
