The Millcreek Mall or Millcreek Mall Complex is a one-level shopping center southwest of downtown

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, between

Peach Street The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-f ...

and

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfar ...

, in Millcreek Township. The mall is the tenth largest shopping complex in the United States, and, with 195 stores, Millcreek Mall is currently the third largest shopping mall in Pennsylvania. The complex opened on November 9, 1975 and was developed by the Youngstown, Ohio-based Cafaro Company, who continue to own and operate it. Due to Pennsylvania's lack of sales tax on clothing, the Millcreek Mall attracts many visitors from

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The mall proper houses 121 store spaces, with 12 kiosks. The 165 stores and restaurants figure often cited includes stores within the physical mall and its many peripheral restaurants, stores and strip plazas. The mall is anchored by

Boscov's Boscov's Inc. is a family-owned department store with forty-nine locations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Twenty-six of these stores are located in Pennsylvania. Corporate headq ...

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gi ...

, and

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

History

The mall's original

anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wi ...

s included Boston Store,

Halle's Halle Brothers Co., commonly referred to as Halle's, was a department store chain based in Cleveland, Ohio. During most of its 91-year history, Halle's focused on higher-end merchandise which it combined with personal service. The company was t ...

Kaufmann's Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Summary The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regio ...

, Carlisle's and

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

. Boston Store in 1979 became Horne's, which in turn closed and became Lazarus in 1994. Lazarus closed this anchor in 1997. Halle's later became a Dahlkemper's catalog showroom, which closed in 1993. Its space became

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with i ...

. HomePlace took the former Carlisle's location after Carlisle's closure in 1995.

Elder-Beerman The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., commonly known as Elder-Beerman, was an American chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 stor ...

took over the former Lazarus in 1998, but was converted five years later to

The Bon-Ton Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...

. After HomePlace closed, its space was divided between

Steve & Barry's Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual clothing, footwear and accessories. By mid-2008, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states. The company was headquartered in Port Washington, New York. The company liquida ...

and

AC Moore A.C. Moore was an American arts and crafts retail chain, owned by Nicole Crafts. It had 145 retail locations in the eastern United States, with corporate headquarters in Berlin, New Jersey. On November 25, 2019, A.C. Moore announced that it wo ...

, the former of which closed in 2009. Also, Kaufmann's was converted to

in September 2006. Burlington Coat Factory moved out of the mall in late 2012. In 2014, the space that was occupied by Burlington was split into six spaces that now house Primanti Brothers, a Mad Mex restaurant, a Round One Entertainment arcade and a Guitar Center. The two other spaces are still vacant as of now with no future plans. The area of the mall was also renamed "The Promenade" and it also has its own mall entrance as well. Millcreek Mall aerial photo, April 2005

The combination of anchors has given it the shape of a gun pointed at downtown Erie when viewed from above, which has led to controversy in some cases. This has resulted in an urban legend which states the mall was intentionally built that way under the direction of the mafia. On March 27, 2008, it was announced the mall would receive a multimillion-dollar renovation. Among the new additions to the mall are a children's area, a food court, and renovated entrances to the building. The mall also got skylights, porcelain floors, a new west side entrance, and new parking lot lights. The food court opened in late 2008.

opened in the recently shuttered Sears on October 5, 2017. On October 18, 2017, it was announced

Round One Entertainment , stylized as ROUND1, is a Japan-based amusement store chain. In Japan, the amusement centers offer bowling alleys, arcade games, karaoke, and billiards. They also have a larger variation of Round One known as SpoCha, abbreviated for Sports Chal ...

will join the center. It opened in Summer 2018. On January 31, 2018, it was announced that regional division The Bon-Ton will be closing this location. On September 18, 2022, a massive fight broke out between juveniles in the Macy's wing in the Food Court which resulted in a shot being fired into the ceiling and the mall having to go into lockdown. The individuals involved in the shooting were charged and the Millcreek Mall is currently working on to find a way to prevent this sort of crime from happening again.

Outside the Millcreek Mall

The Millcreek Mall Pavilion consists of stores including

Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of 2018, Ross operates 1,483 sto ...

HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was founded as a small chain in 1992, and grew to include hundreds of locations throughout the United States. HomeGoods sells furniture, linens, cooki ...

, Michaels Arts & Crafts, Christmas Tree Shops,

Five Below 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

Carter's Carter's, Inc. is a major American designer and marketer of children's apparel. It was founded in 1865 by William Carter. Carter's sells its products through its own Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh retail stores, its website, and in other retail ...

Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty, Inc., formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. and before 2000 as Ulta3, is an American chain of beauty stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Ulta Beauty carries both high-end and low-end cosmetics, fragra ...

, Vertical Jump Park,

DSW Shoe Warehouse Designer Brands Inc. is an American company that sells designer and name brand shoes and fashion accessories. It owns the Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) store chain, and operates over 500 stores in the United States and an e-commerce website. Th ...

, and

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores ...

. The mall property is also home to several restaurants including Max & Erma's, Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill,

Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Aust ...

Red Lobster Red Lobster Hospitality LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam) and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Ho ...

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...

, Picasso's Deli,

Cold Stone Creamery Cold Stone Creamery is an American international ice cream parlor chain. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company is owned and operated by Kahala Brands. The company's main product is premium ice cream made with approximately 12–14% b ...

Arby's Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, ''Food & Wine'' called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain (after Subway)". Arby ...

and Aoyama Japanese Steakhouse, which is in a former

Chi-Chi's Chi-Chi's can either refer to a Mexican food restaurant chain founded in the United States in 1975, which continued in Europe only (as a Tex-Mex restaurant, under different ownership) after the North American owner declared bankruptcy and fold ...

. A

Homewood Suites Homewood Suites by Hilton is an American chain of all-suite residential-style hotels managed by the Hilton Worldwide. As of December 31, 2019, the chain consists of 505 hotels in 4 countries and territories with 57,545 rooms. 490 Homewood Su ...

, TownePlace Suites and a Fairfield Inn also sit on the property. The former Blair store, originally a Children's Palace toy store, has been converted into the Erie Institute of Technology (EIT). The

Hills A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as ...

/ Ames department store, which sat empty for over five years, became All Seasons Market Place & Flea Market but now houses At Home, a home decor store. Also on the property is the former Cinema 6, a discount movie theater, which is now the Elevate! church. A

Men's Wearhouse Tailored Brands, Inc. is an American retail holding company for various men's apparel stores, including the Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank brands. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional corporate offices in Fremont, ...

OfficeMax OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. It is now a subsidiary of The ODP Corporation, which is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of December 2012, OfficeMax operated 941 stores in 47 states, Puerto Rico, the U ...

David's Bridal David's Bridal is a clothier in the United States that specializes in wedding dresses, prom gowns, and other formal wear. It is the largest American bridal-store chain. David's Bridal currently operates 298 stores in 49 states, Canada, and the ...

Ollie's Bargain Outlet Ollie's Bargain Outlet is an American chain of Discount store, discount closeout retailers. It was founded in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1982 by Morton Bernstein and Mark L. Butler with backing from Harry Coverman and Oliver E. "Ollie" Rosenb ...

, and many smaller stores also occupy land on the site of the Millcreek Mall. On July 3, 2019,

Sonic Drive-In Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic (stylized as SONIC), or "The Drive-In," is an American drive-in fast food restaurant Chain store, chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's and Buf ...

opened up in the former Sears Auto Center lot.

Millcreek Marketplace

Across the street from the ''Millcreek Mall'', the land that was once woods has begun to experience a major change. On the land there are five restaurants;

O'Charley's O'Charley's is a casual dining restaurant chain in the United States, with more than 175+ company-owned locations. O'Charley's is located in 17 Southern and Midwestern states, including three joint venture O'Charley's restaurants in Louisiana ...

Moe's Southwest Grill Moe's Southwest Grill, referred to informally as Moe's, is an American fast casual restaurant franchise chain that was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 2000FOCUS Brands press release, FOCUS Brands to Acquire Moe’s Southwest Grill', Apri ...

Buffalo Wild Wings Buffalo Wild Wings (originally Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, hence the nickname BDubs, or BW3) is an American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise in the United States, Canada, India, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, a ...

, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, and

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

, a SpringHill Suites hotel,

PNC Bank The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (stylized as PNC) is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District ...

, and a

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

store.

Giant Eagle Giant Eagle, Inc. (Western Pennsylvania English: ) and stylized as giant eagle) is an American supermarket chain with stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

opened a supermarket on the property on March 23, 2017.

In popular media

On the popular children's television series ''

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

'', the mall in Elwood City is based on Millcreek Mall, stylized as ''Mill Creek Mall''.

References

{{reflist

External links