A snapshot of the Southeast Court area at MILLCREEK MALL. This photo is now dated, as Sears pulled up stakes and left the shopping hub. Today, one would see a Boscov's nameplate on the anchor store.
Photo from http://www.cafarocompany.com / The Cafaro Company
Here, we see the PROMENADE AT MILLCREEK MALL and its Kirkland's home decor store. This was a latter-day addition to the PROMENADE, assuming a vacant Coldwater Creek space.
Photo from http://www.cafarocompany.com / The Cafaro Company
By 2013, the center is promoted as the MILLCREEK MALL COMPLEX. This takes in the mall proper, three freestanding strip centers and various outparcels. The COMPLEX encompasses 2.2 million square feet and features 165 stores. F.Y. I., The square footage of the mall proper -by itself- is in the neighborhood of 1.1 million.
Graphic from http://www.millcreekmall.net
A circa-2018 plan shows the latest MILLCREEK modifications. After Burlington Coat Factory's 2012 departure, its space was rebuilt into a new wing. It housed nine tenants, including a Mad Mex restaurant, Primanti Brothers restaurant, Guitar Center and Round 1 Bowling & Amusement Center.
MILLCREEK MALL
Peach Street / US 19 and Interchange Road
Erie County, Pennsylvania
The first (and only) major shopping mall in Erie County, Pennsylvania was 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 incorporated section of Erie County known as Millcreek Township.
MILLCREEK MALL was developed by Youngstown, Ohio's William M. Cafaro Company and designed by Andrew J. Burin Associates. The fully-enclosed complex encompassed approximately 1,095,700 leasable square feet and featured five anchor stores. The first operational tenants were a 2-level (125,000 square foot) Sears and 2-level (137,100 square foot), Erie-based Boston Store. These were in operation by late 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 September 9 of the same year. The final operational anchor, a 2-level (148,200 square foot) J.C. Penney, held it's grand opening on October 1, 1975.
MILLCREEK MALL held its official dedication on October 6, 1975, with new store openings stretching into the following year. Junior anchors were a J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 and Ashtabula-based Carlisle's. The General Cinema Corporation Millcreek Mall 3 was dedicated on November 9, 1975.
Charter inline stores included Orange Julius, Hot Sam Pretzels, Florsheim Shoes, Spencer Gifts, National Record Mart, J.P. Snodgrass Britches-Belts-Shirts, York Steakhouse, Karmelkorn, Hickory Farms of Ohio, CVS, County Seat, Musicland, a Forum Cafeteria and branch of the Erie County Public Library. A (28,300 square foot) Loblaw's Groceteria was housed in the Retail Annex strip center, which stood in the mall's west parking area.
The nearest mall-type counterpart in the trade area was ERIE CENTRAL MALL (1963) {3.3 miles northeast, in downtown Erie}. This complex, which encompassed only 181,700 leasable square feet, was no match for MILLCREREK 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 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 [rhymes with "bally's"]was the second store in the mall 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 eight tenant spaces, with a new southwest mall entrance created.
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 a (51,000 square foot) Dick's Sporting Goods, (26,500 square foot) Linens 'n Things and (23,600 square foot) 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 section 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. Sears, a 1974 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. With these modifications, the main structure of MILLCREEK MALL encompassed approximately 1,133,300 leasable square feet. It contained 121 stores and services beneath its roof.
Sources:
The Pittsburgh Press
The Oil City Derrick (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Erie County, Pennsylvania
www.cafarocompany.com / The Cafaro Company
https://www.millcreekmall.net (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.millcreekmall.net
http://www.goerie.com
http://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.erienewsnow.com
"Millcreek Mall" article on Wikipedia
