The Boston Store was developed out of the Erie Dry Goods Company, which
was founded by Elisha H. Mack in 1885. Mack had purchased a bankrupt
dry goods store on Peach Street the same year, and purchased a three-
story building on the 700-block of State Street a year later. Between
1886 and 1930 the Boston Store expanded to eleven parcels of real
estate on the block comprised of State, Peach, West 7th, and West 8th
streets. The Boston Store’s growth was due to the boom of American
industry in the early twentieth century, and this expanding retailer
competed with others in the Western Pennsylvania area. It particularly
rivaled against the department store Trask, Prescott & Richardson,
which was located about a block south of the Boston Store.
After changing ownership in 1925, the Boston Store continued to grow
under the ownership of longtime employee Peter Fries, along with A.E.
Seidel and Thomas Sutherland. By 1929 the Boston Store began planning
the construction of a large, brick department store building that would
replace the multiple buildings on the block. Erie architects Frank
Shutts and Karl Morrison planned an Art Deco style building with
interior features specific to that of a department store, including
open retail floors and multiple stories. With the help of Erie
suppliers and subcontractors, the new Boston Store was completed in
1931.
Now larger than its competitors Trask, Prescott & Richardson, the
Boston Store combined and organized its retailers into the six-story
building. It became the center of retail and entertainment, and a
community focal point in Erie. The interior clock of the Boston Store
became a meeting place for shoppers, and the sixth floor became a
meeting place for the city’s clubs and social organizations. A post
office was also located within the building. The first floor was
comprised of impulse-buy goods such as small household items, candy,
and a bookstore. The men’s department was also on the first floor,
which was typical of the time period. Women shoppers greatly
outnumbered men, and it was thought that if men could easily see goods
that interested them from first floor storefronts of the Boston Store
they would be more apt to go inside and purchase them. The women’s
department was located on the second floor, while the third through
fifth floors sold furniture, home accessories, and kitchen appliances.
The fifth floor eventually became a toy store, and the sixth floor was
host to a large kitchen, dining rooms, and administrative offices.
The Boston Store would expand, update, and reorganize until its closing
on July 7, 1979. The newly built Millcreek Mall, located five miles
southwest of the Boston Store, cut into sales at the once bustling
department store. As part of an effort to breathe new life into this
iconic Erie structure, the Boston Store was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places in October 1994. The upper floors were
renovated into 125 apartments, while the first floor houses several
local radio stations and the insurance enterprise, UPMC Health Plan.
The legendary place of the Boston Store in Erie’s retail commercial
history is still recalled by sign posts located along various roads in
Erie County, denoting the number of “miles to the Boston Store.” |