Peach Street, part of U.S. Route 19

U.S. Route 19 in Pennsylvania

U.S. Route 19 in Pennsylvania closely parallels Interstate 79 for its entire length. US 19 enters Pennsylvania in Greene County near Mount Morris. Its northern terminus is in the city of Erie. Part is named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie.-Route description:In...

, is a main artery serving downtown Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...

. Once surrounded by nothing but rolling hills and farmland, "Upper Peach Street" (as it is known), is the most significant center of urban sprawl

Urban sprawl

Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...

 in Erie and is now home to numerous strip plaza

Plaza

Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...

s, a major shopping mall

Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

 and several big box stores.

Peach Street is one-way north from its intersection of West 26th Street

U.S. Route 20

U.S. Route 20 is an east–west United States highway. As the "0" in its route number implies, US 20 is a coast-to-coast route. Spanning , it is the longest road in the United States, and the route sparsely parallels Interstate 90...

. Peach Street intersects with Interstate 90 and is easily accessible to/from Interstate 79

Interstate 79

Interstate 79 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from Interstate 77 in Charleston, West Virginia to Pennsylvania Route 5 and Pennsylvania Route 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania...

.

Background

Peach Street's main expansion, though, takes place as it enters Millcreek

Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania

Millcreek Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 53,515 at the 2010 census. It is the largest suburb of Erie, Pennsylvania and the sixth-largest municipality in the state; larger than the cities of Altoona and Harrisburg.Millcreek Township is home to...

 and Summit

Summit Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania

Summit Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,529 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 23.9 square miles , all of it land.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were...

 townships. Upper Peach Street, as the urban sprawl area is known, is actually about five miles (8 km) south of downtown Erie.

As a result of America's mass exodus

Demographic history of the United States

This article is about the demographic history of the United States.-Historical population:-Age at marriage:1890: Men 26.1, Women 22.01900: Men 25.9, Women 21.91910: Men 25.1, Women 21.61920: Men 24.6, Women 21.21930: Men 24.3, Women 21.3...

 to the suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

s, Peach Street has rapidly expanded over the past two decades.

The commonly found heavy traffic around the shopping centers on Peach Street is often referred to by locals as "Peach Jam."

Commercial Development

As Americans began moving out of cities, so, too, did the stores they frequented. Erie's downtown suffered as a result of the construction of the Millcreek Mall

Millcreek Mall

The Millcreek Mall or Millcreek Mall Complex is a one-level shopping center located 3.4 miles southwest of downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, between Peach Street and Interstate 79, in Millcreek Township...

 on Peach Street. Many businesses soon followed suit and moved to the expanding suburb.

Peach Street is home to at least seven different plazas all housing major big box retailers and small businesses. Additionally, Peach Street is home to many of Erie's national restaurant chain locations and numerous auto dealerships.

Pizza Bomber Case

On Aug. 28, 2003, Erie's Peach Street became famous for the "pizza bomber case" in which Brian Douglas Wells, a local pizza delivery driver, was killed as part of a bank robbery plot. The robery took place at Upper Peach Street's PNC Bank location, which has since closed, while most of the events took place in the parking lot of Eyeglass World.

Marketplace

This is the latest development along Peach Street

• Babies "R" Us
• Bed Bath & Beyond
  Bed Bath & Beyond
  Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. was formed in 1971 and today operates a chain of domestic merchandise retail stores across United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. They feature mostly medium-ranged, but also a limited selection of high quality, domestic merchandise: items for the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen,...
  
  
• Best Buy
  Best Buy
  Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
  
  
• Delta Sonic Car Wash
• GFS Marketplace
• Longhorn Steakhouse
  LongHorn Steakhouse
  LongHorn Steakhouse is a restaurant chain, with locations throughout the Eastern United States and in Puerto Rico. Most of its restaurants are in the Southern United States. It also has a few locations in the Midwest, Southwest, and Puerto Rico...
  
  
• Marshalls
  Marshalls
  Marshalls, Inc., is a chain of American department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 750 conventional stores, as well as larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico. Marshalls expanded into Canada in March 2011...
  
  
• Payless ShoeSource
  Payless ShoeSource
  Payless ShoeSource is a discount footwear retailer founded in Topeka, Kansas in 1956 that is owned by Collective Brands, Inc. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation which merged with the May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the...
  
  
• Quizno's
• Target
  Target Corporation
  Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
  
  
• UPS Store

Keystone Plaza

• Dahlkemper's Jewelry Connection
• CD Warehouse
• Dunkin' Donuts
  Dunkin' Donuts
  Dunkin' Donuts is an international doughnut and coffee retailer founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts; it is now headquartered in Canton...
  
  
• Erie Sports Store
• Famous Dave's
  Famous Dave's
  Famous Dave's Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que, formerly Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que Shack, is a chain of southern-style barbecue restaurants serving pork ribs, chicken, and beef brisket. Dave Anderson, an Ojibwe who served as the head of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs from 2004 to 2005, started the...
  
  
• Famous Hair
• GameStop
  GameStop
  GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...
  
  
• Hobby Lobby
  Hobby Lobby
  Hobby Lobby is a privately held retail chain of arts and crafts stores based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and is formally called Hobby Lobby Creative Centers.Founded by David Green on August 3, 1972, the chain has more than 456 stores in 39 states...
  
  
• Kohl's
  Kohl's
  Kohl's Corporation is an American department store chain headquartered in the Milwaukee suburb of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, operating , 1,089 stores in 49 states. In 1998, it entered the S&P 500 list, and is also listed in the Fortune 500...
  
  
• Lowe's
  Lowe's
  Lowe's Companies, Inc. is a U.S.-based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,710 stores in the United States and 20 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in...
  
  
• Panera Bread
  Panera Bread
  Panera Bread is a chain of bakery–café quick casual restaurants in the United States and Canada that sells breads, sandwiches, soups, salads, and other bakery items. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.-Corporate history:In 1993, Au Bon Pain Co...
  
  
• Party City
  Party City
  Party City is the largest retail party supply store in the United States, including Puerto Rico, with more than 500 corporate and franchised locations...
  
  
• Plato's Closet
• Qdoba Mexican Grill
  Qdoba Mexican Grill
  Qdoba Mexican Grill , is a chain of fast casual "Fresh Mex" restaurants in the United States serving Mexican-style cuisine. The company is owned by Jack in the Box, having been owned and expanded by ACI Capital until 2003....
  
  
• Salvation Army store
  Salvation Army
  The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
  
  
• Staples
  Staples, Inc.
  Staples Inc. is a large office supply chain store, with over 2,000 stores worldwide in 26 countries. Based in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States, the company has retail stores, serving customers under its original name in Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Norway,...
  
  
• Taco Bell
  Taco Bell
  Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...
  
  
• T.G.I. Friday's
  T.G.I. Friday's
  T.G.I. Friday's is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Carlson Companies. Its name is taken from the expression TGIF...
  
  
• Tinseltown movie theater
  Cinemark Theatres
  Cinemark Theatres is a chain of movie theatres owned by Cinemark Holdings, Inc. in North and South America and Taiwan. It has its headquarters in Plano, Texas.Cinemark's Missions Statement Reads as follows:...
  
  
• Torero's

Summit Town Centre

• Army Recruiting Center
• Chick-Fil-A
  Chick-fil-A
  Chick-fil-A |"fillet"]]) is a quick service restaurant chain headquartered in College Park, Georgia, United States, specializing in chicken entrées and is known for promoting the company founder's claims of Christian values. Long associated with the southern United States, where it has been a...
  
  
• Chuck E. Cheese's
  Chuck E. Cheese's
  Chuck E. Cheese's is a chain of family entertainment centers. Chuck E...
  
  
• Giant Eagle
  Giant Eagle
  Giant Eagle, Inc., is a supermarket chain with stores in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Supermarket News ranked Giant Eagle No. 21 in the 2009 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2008...
  
  
• HQ Home
• Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts
  Jo-Ann Stores, Inc.
  Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. is a specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains Jo-Ann Fabrics and Jo-Ann Etc...
  
  
• McDonald's
  McDonald's
  McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
  
  
• Old Country Buffet
• Once Upon A Child
• Plato's Closet
• Sam's Club
  Sam's Club
  Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. , the Sam's Club chain serves more than 47 million U.S. members...
  
  
• John V. Schultz
• Staples
  Staples
  -Places:*Staples, Minnesota, United States*Staples, Texas, United States*Staples Center, an arena in Los Angeles, California*Staples High School, a high school in Connecticut*Staples , a train station in Staples, Minnesota served by Amtrak...
  
  
• Sylvan Learning
  Sylvan Learning
  Sylvan Learning consists of franchised and corporate supplemental learning centers which provide personalized instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills, homework support, and test preparation for college entrance and state exams...
  
  
• Tim Hortons
  Tim Hortons
  Tim Hortons Inc. is a Canadian fast casual restaurant known for its coffee and doughnuts. It is also Canada's largest fast food service with over 3000 stores nationwide. It was founded in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario, by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton and Jim Charade, after an initial venture in...
  
  
• Verizon Wireless
  Verizon Wireless
  Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
  
  

Peach Square

• Eat'n Park
  Eat'n Park
  Eat'n Park is a restaurant chain based in Homestead, Pennsylvania with over 75 locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The chain is known for its Smiley Cookies.-History:...
  
  
• HHGregg
  Hhgregg
  hhgregg Inc. or Gregg Appliances Inc. is a publicly owned and operated appliance and electronics retailer in the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast United States with over 3,100 employees operating stores in 16 states including Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,...
  
  
• The Home Depot
  The Home Depot
  The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...
  
  
• Krispy Kreme
  Krispy Kreme
  Krispy Kreme is the name of an international chain of doughnut stores that was founded by Vernon Rudolph in 1937 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The parent company of Krispy Kreme is Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc...
  
  
• PetSmart
  PetSmart
  PetSmart, Inc. is a retail chain doing business in the United States and Canada engaged in the sale of specialty pet supplies and services such as grooming and dog training, PetSmart PetsHotel dog and cat boarding facilities and Doggie Day Care.- History :...
  
  
• Quaker Steak & Lube
  Quaker Steak & Lube
  Quaker Steak & Lube is a casual dining restaurant chain based in Sharon, Pennsylvania. The original restaurant was built in 1974 by George "Jig" Warren and Gary "Mo" Meszaros in an abandoned gas station in downtown Sharon, and decorated with license plates and old automobiles...
  
  
• Steak n Shake
  Steak n Shake
  Steak 'n Shake is a 500-unit diner-style restaurant chain located primarily in the Midwestern and Southern United States. headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over 400 Steak 'n Shakes are company-owned and the remaining ones are franchised...
  
  
• Texas Roadhouse
  Texas Roadhouse
  Texas Roadhouse is a chain restaurant that specializes in steaks and promotes a western theme. Texas Roadhouse Corporation is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. The first restaurant was opened in Clarksville, Indiana, in 1993 at the Green Tree Mall across the Ohio River from Louisville,...
  
  
• Wal-Mart Supercenter

Upper Peach Street

• Amish Buggy
• Applebee's
  Applebee's
  Applebee’s International, Inc., is an American company which develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurant chain. As of September 2011, there were 2,010 restaurants operating system-wide in the United States, one U.S. territory and 14 other countries...
  
  
• Barnes & Noble
  Barnes & Noble
  Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
  
  
• Big Woodie's Fireworks
• Bob Evans
  Bob Evans Restaurants
  Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is a food service, processing, and retail company based in Columbus, Ohio. The company is named after its founder, Bob Evans . It operates two family dining restaurant chains in the United States, Bob Evans Restaurants and Mimi's Cafe...
  
  
• Books Galore
• Boston Pizza
  Boston Pizza
  Boston Pizza is a Canadian-based restaurant chain which owns and franchises locations in Canada, the United States and Mexico.-History:...
  
  
• Burger King
  Burger King
  Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
  
  
• Cracker Barrel
  Cracker Barrel
  Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. is an American chain of combined restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969 and its first store was located in Lebanon, Tennessee, where the company is now headquartered...
  
  
• Eye Glass World
• Family First Sports Park
• Furniture Row
  Furniture Row
  Furniture Row Companies is a group of specialty home furnishings, mattress and linens stores with headquarters in Denver, Colorado, USA, and stores in 31 states. It operates at least four franchises: Sofa Mart, Oak Express, Denver Mattress, and Bedroom Expressions, the last of which still sells...
  
  
• Jelly Belly
  Jelly Belly
  The Jelly Belly Candy, or simply Jelly Belly, is the maker of The Jelly Belly and other candy, formerly known as The Herman Goelitz Candy Company...
  
  
• Kentucky Fried Chicken
• Olive Garden
  Olive Garden
  Olive Garden is an American restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in an unincorporated area in Orange County, Florida, near Orlando. Olive Garden operates more than 730 locations globally.- History :The...
  
  
• Safari Grille
• Splash Lagoon
  Splash Lagoon
  Splash Lagoon Indoor Waterpark Resort is a Polynesian-themed large indoor waterpark located in Erie, Pennsylvania.The park is approximately . It features seven water slides, three hot tubs, one large activity pool, and a children's area. The tiki tree house is four stories high and offers many...
  
  
• Wegman's
• Wendy's
  Wendy's
  Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
  
  

Lower Peach Street

• Arby's
  Arby's
  Arby's is a fast food restaurant chain in the United States and Canada. Roark Capital Group owns 81.5% of the company, with Wendy's Company owning the other 18.5%. It is primarily known for selling roast beef sandwiches and curly fries. The Arby's menu also includes chicken sandwiches, appetizers,...
  
  
• Dairy Queen
  Dairy Queen
  Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...
  
  
• Long John Silvers
• McDonald's
  McDonald's
  McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
  
  
• Perkins Restaurant
• Burger King
  Burger King
  Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
  
  
• Grasshopper
  Grasshopper
  The grasshopper is an insect of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish it from bush crickets or katydids, it is sometimes referred to as the short-horned grasshopper...
  
  

See also

• Millcreek Mall
  Millcreek Mall
  The Millcreek Mall or Millcreek Mall Complex is a one-level shopping center located 3.4 miles southwest of downtown Erie, Pennsylvania, between Peach Street and Interstate 79, in Millcreek Township...