The Place That Pulled Erie Together
You could map your entire childhood around this place.
Saturday meant heading down Peach Street, parking near the east entrance, grabbing a food court tray, and walking past that long row of fluorescent-lit storefronts humming with sound and motion.
Millcreek Mall didn’t need flash to stay relevant. It just had to stay open.
Built in 1975, it outlasted department store implosions, retail shakeouts, and e-commerce fatigue.
And now, hitting the fifty-year mark, it’s still drawing crowds from across Ohio, New York, and Ontario. For anyone searching for things to do in Erie, Pennsylvania, this mall still makes the list.
Location, Lease Lines, and Legacy
Millcreek Mall sits in Millcreek Township, about three miles southwest of downtown Erie, Pennsylvania.
It occupies a core location between Peach Street and Interstate 79, close enough for daily convenience but large enough to serve regional pull.
The mall’s footprint is spread across a single floor, except for four locations – Macy’s, JCPenney, Boscov’s, and Round One Entertainment – each of which expands vertically with a second level.
The mall originally opened on November 10, 1975.
Developed by the Cafaro Company out of Youngstown, Ohio, it remains both owned and operated by that same company today.
Over the years, Millcreek Mall has grown to rank as the third-largest shopping center in Pennsylvania and the fourteenth-largest in the country.
That status comes with numbers: 165+ active stores and restaurants across the complex, including 121 inside the enclosed mall and 12 freestanding kiosks.
The surrounding states play an unexpected role.
Pennsylvania’s no-sales-tax rule on clothing helps explain why cars with Ohio and New York plates pack the parking lots, especially around the holidays.
Canadian visitors come down through Buffalo or Niagara Falls, drawn by the exchange rate and a break from provincial retail chains.
The complex remains directly linked to the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority, with seven public bus lines serving the site daily.
Although traffic patterns have shifted and retail habits have fractured, the mall hasn’t gone quiet.
The formula, one-level access, steady ownership, and regional tax quirks, still works, at least for now.
Turnover, Reuse, and Retail Footprint Shifts
By the early 1980s, Millcreek Mall had already begun cycling through anchor names.
The original six – Boston Store, Halle’s, JCPenney, Kaufmann’s, Carlisle’s, and Sears – held down the real estate early.
But turnover came quickly. Boston Store changed hands in 1979, turning into Horne’s, which closed before becoming Lazarus in 1994.
That one didn’t last, either. Lazarus shut its doors by 1997. Five years later, Elder-Beerman moved in, only to get rebranded as The Bon-Ton in 2003.
Halle’s became Dahlkemper’s, a catalog showroom that closed in 1993.
Burlington Coat Factory picked up the space for a while before leaving the mall entirely in late 2012.
The old Kaufmann’s space became Macy’s in 2006.
Carlisle’s shut down in 1995 and was replaced by HomePlace, which later split between Steve & Barry’s and AC Moore.
Neither of those survived either – Steve & Barry’s closed in 2009, and AC Moore followed in 2020.
In 2014, the vacated Burlington footprint was carved up.
That area, now called The Promenade, holds Guitar Center, Round One Entertainment, Mad Mex, and Primanti Brothers.
Two sections still sit empty. No future tenants have been announced for those spots.
The retail churn created a pattern. Spaces didn’t sit unused for long, but they rarely carried the same brand twice.
The Bon-Ton closure in 2018 marked another shift, and by February 2023, Dick’s Sporting Goods confirmed it would relocate into that old anchor spot.
Forty years of commerce left scars on the floor plans. And it keeps rearranging.
Property Mix, Tenant Spread, and Hospitality Anchors
Outside the mall walls, the retail buildout sprawled into separate zones.
The Millcreek Mall Pavilion houses chains like Ross Dress for Less, HomeGoods, Five Below, Michaels, Ulta Beauty, and DSW.
Vertical Jump Park brings trampoline traffic to the back side of the lot.
Along the same corridor, Rally House and Carter’s round out the mid-scale retail.
Restaurants tie together the periphery. Outback Steakhouse operates in a standalone space.
Aoyama Japanese Steakhouse took over a former Chi-Chi’s footprint.
Cold Stone Creamery, Arby’s, Starbucks, and Picasso’s Deli dot the drive lanes.
Max & Erma’s and Smokey Bones Barbeque sit just off the main access road.
Lodging turned into a secondary anchor. Homewood Suites, TownePlace Suites, and Fairfield Inn all went up around the mall’s ring.
Erie Institute of Technology took over a structure that had served as a Blair store and, before that, a Children’s Palace toy outlet.
At Home now occupies the building that once had been Hills, then Ames, and then a flea market called All Seasons Marketplace.
Even remnants of old entertainment concepts got reused.
A discount movie theater once known as Cinema 6 became Elevate!
Church. In July 2019, Sonic Drive-In opened on the old Sears Auto Center lot, adding drive-in service to an otherwise foot-traffic-heavy site.
Across the road, Millcreek Marketplace turned undeveloped land into another layer of branded real estate.
Cheddar’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill, O’Charley’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, and McDonald’s moved in, along with a Verizon store, a SpringHill Suites hotel, and a Giant Eagle supermarket that opened on March 23, 2017.
Renovations, Incidents, and What Got Quietly Fixed
In 2008, Millcreek Mall didn’t try to reinvent itself.
It just fixed what had worn out. Skylights went in, porcelain tile replaced linoleum, and a new kids’ play area gave restless parents a spot to stall.
Entrances were rebuilt, parking lot lights swapped out, and an east-side doorway gave shoppers a cleaner pathway off Peach Street.
A food court finally opened that year, too, decades after fast food had taken over half the concourse anyway.
It was the kind of renovation you don’t notice unless it doesn’t happen.
No rebrand, no big campaign. But it kept the place moving. Sears still had a lease. So did The Bon-Ton. Both are gone now.
Then came September 18, 2022. A fight broke out in the Macy’s wing. One round hit the ceiling.
No one was hit, but the lockdown that followed turned up the pressure.
Afterward, mall management said little, but changes came fast.
Renovation picked up again in 2025. This time, it wasn’t about flooring or lights.
Buckle shifted into a new location in April 2025 and ran a gift card push through Memorial Day.
Sierra Trading Post prepped a 17,000-square-foot buildout next to Boscov’s, with gear-testing space wired in from the start.
The floor plan now bends toward hands-on use, not glass displays or folded stacks.
Lease Strategy, Foot Traffic, and Year Fifty Without the Noise
Millcreek Mall turned fifty without saying much about it.
No look back. But the structure’s still full, and the people keep showing up.
Cafaro still runs the whole thing, just as it has since 1975.
That stability matters more than nostalgia, especially to national chains looking for low-drama leases and predictable terms.
More than 10 million people pass through every year.
That number hasn’t dipped. On March 5, 2025, the 814 Job Fair took over part of the main concourse for four hours.
A regional hiring event in the middle of the day isn’t flashy.
But it pulls traffic, fills space, and pays off for everyone who stays open during the slow season.
Dick’s Sporting Goods took over the old Bon-Ton footprint in early 2023.
It didn’t just move, it upgraded, stepping out of the pavilion and into the core.
Sierra Trading Post follows that trend. Its store near Boscov’s opened in fall 2024.
It’s the first in this market and added more square footage than any other new arrival this year.
Outside, Round One keeps its base of teens and families.
Inside, the Promenade brings in dinner crowds and post-work browsers.
Promotions stay lean. There’s no retro logo campaign.
It is just a mall that hasn’t had to close, hasn’t flipped owners, and hasn’t gone dark in five decades.
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How could you not mention the Lifestyle Street Gear Store that helped usher in the hip hop clothing boom with labels like Enyce, Roca Wear, Willie Esco, Baby Phat, Phat Farm and more
That part of the mall told a very different story from the anchor stores. It was youth-driven, culturally specific, and often more influential than the bigger brands around it.