Calling this area
"flourishing" is an incredible overstatement, but it's good to see small, local businesses working to revitalize midtown, which has been rather creepy for a long time... rooming houses, massage parlors, drug bars, etc. This has long been an area of Erie that has had the potential to be a cool neighborhood, but it's going to take a lot of work... it's pretty rough.
More eclectic shops possible for Erie's flourishing 'Old Mid-Town'
Eclectic only begins to describe the variety of wares available in "Old Mid-Town," which developer Chris Gerhart calls Peach Street between West 26th and West 24th streets.
The neighborhood now houses Grasshopper, Chickory Hill Herbs, glassblowing and T-shirt shops, and the Singing Bowl vegetarian restaurant.
It's home to Airsoft, an indoor game facility in which players carry guns with plastic BBs; Forward Hall, a concert venue for all ages; and Europa Delicatessen, which caters to eastern European immigrants.
There's also Continental barbershop, Bartone's locksmith shop and Matt's Shoe Repair, among others. Just south of West 26th Street, Ink Assassins tattoo parlor has a new neighbor upstairs, 2189, a store for skateboards and supplies.
Gerhart is working on bringing in a new bead shop, soap makers and scrapbook experts that might all share a space. He said a stained-glass maker is eyeing an empty storefront that used to house an aquarium business. The old Norb's Bar is for sale, along with its liquor license.
Gerhart said he would be thrilled if a classy jazz bar could open there.
"It used to be kind of seedy," he said about the neighborhood, but he's undaunted by the neighborhood's previous reputation.
"I'm looking forward," he said with a laugh. "We need people to feel comfortable coming down here."
More eclectic shops possible for Erie's flourishing 'Old Mid-Town'
Developer gets artistic types to set up shop
By JENNIE GEISLER
jennie.geisler@timesnews.com
Walking north on Peach Street, just as you pass West 26th Street, you can smell the incense.
Neighborhood stalwart Grasshopper, 2518 Peach St., sells crates of it.
Next door, you can close your eyes and taste the tea leaves.
Chicory Hill Herbs, 25161/2 Peach St., stocks dozens of flavors.
After that, your tummy might be rumbling. Stop for a pita sandwich at 2-month-old vegetarian restaurant the Singing Bowl, 2504 Peach St.
"It's really exciting," said Jenn Dunn, a sales clerk at Grasshopper, which has anchored the block for 16 years. "All the new businesses opening. It's people doing what they like to do."
Five new ventures have started out in what developer Chris Gerhart calls "Old Mid-Town," a small neighborhood stretching from West 26th Street north to West 24th Street.
Gerhart, 33, a retired U.S. Army captain, owns the buildings that house longtime specialty shop Chicory Hill Herbs, as well as other businesses, north to West 25th Street.
Gerhart has been making tracks down those snow-covered sidewalks, recruiting artistic 20-somethings to take a chance on the street.
Gerhart is older than most of the new business owners he's recruited, who are 24 to 27 years old.
He found Jessica Mueller, 27, owner of the Singing Bowl, making sandwiches at Whole Foods Cooperative.
"I asked her if she was crazy enough to do this," he said.
That was in October. She opened her doors Dec. 15.
"Chris came in to the co-op," Mueller recalled. "He liked the sandwich and asked if I was interested in doing this.
"I didn't take him seriously at first. But then I thought, 'Even if he's kidding, what do I have to lose?'"
Singing Bowl guests walk into a glossy, wooden bar that seems to stretch forever. Deep red walls warm the winter weary as does the soup du jour.
Mueller's restaurant isn't strictly vegetarian. She serves sushi on Saturday nights. But she loves the challenge of customizing food to a customer's allergens or religious needs.
She said most of her clientele aren't vegetarian at all, and they keep coming back.
"I think people have the assumption about a vegetarian restaurant and what it is, but I'm not going to shove tofu down their throats," Mueller said.
Two new omnivorous customers were satisfied after a recent lunch.
"We had an excellent meal," said Mary Beth Pfister. "I didn't miss the meat at all."
She ate there with her daughter, Theresa Pfister, 19, a sophomore English major at Gannon University.
"I've been to Forward Hall a lot," Theresa Pfister said, referring to an all-ages concert venue at the corner of West 25th and Peach streets. "All the new businesses are amazing. These are places for people to go who are my age.
"It's making Erie what it should be," Theresa Pfister said.
Mueller sees the small neighborhood as a loosely cohesive unit.
She mentioned the Ink Assassins tattoo parlor just south of West 26th Street and the new skateboard shop, 2189, which just opened right above it.
"I think Grasshopper, Chicory Hill, us and the glass blowers all make sense together," she said. "It's an artistic, open-minded crowd."
Diane Nieratko, owner of Grasshopper, is cautiously optimistic.
"It's nice to see the block taking off and the development happening," she said. "But we've seen a lot of shops come and go."
Nieratko is not ready to call it a full-fledged renaissance. "I've seen a couple of times that it looked as though it was taking off and then it subsided again," she said.
She does like the focus of the new businesses.
"I think we have crossover customers," she said. "We sell things made by artisans or cottage industry-type businesses. We'll see what happens. It's off to a good start."
Zach Cacchione, 24, an artist who works with glass, opened Interglasstic Studios, 2514 Peach St. He is one of four artists who work and sell their wares in the shop.
"It's awesome," he said of the neighborhood. "It's a younger voice of a younger generation. It's a little different from shopping at the mall."
Gerhart proudly shows off Airsoft, a sparse, dusty space upstairs from the Singing Bowl.
He described it as an indoor version of paintball, in which players shoot harmless plastic BBs at each other.
Gerhart said everyone can play. He's hosted fraternities and bachelor parties as well as families.
Matt Testi, owner of Matt's Shoe Repair, 2408 Peach St., moved there two years ago from his former shop on West 10th Street. He said foot traffic is steady this winter, so he is optimistic about the neighborhood.
Testi cleans and repairs shoes, as well as other leather goods, such as coats, purses, luggage, liners, tents and awnings. He's done it for 25 years.
"One thing people don't realize is that you can save money by having your shoes fixed," he said.
Testi is thankful for a loyal customer base.
"He's done my shoes for years," said Bruce Dunton. "He's the best in town. I followed him here from the old store."
Dunton said shops that are popping up on the block are a harbinger of things to come.
"Life is coming back to Erie," he said. "Not as fast as everybody wants it, but it's coming."
Just down the block lies the equally quirky Europa Delicatessen.
The store specializes in European food that can be hard to get in the U.S., such as fresh salami and bologna, smoked fish, caviar and juices in bottles with illegible writing.
Arsen Akopyan, 25, owns the shop. His father and brother work with him there. The family moved the store to Peach Street from Brown Avenue two years ago.
One entire aisle is devoted to more than 200 types of European chocolate and candy. Akopyan also stocks fresh European breads, Russian cookbooks and can order 50 traditional Eastern Europe cakes.
"It's unique," Akopyan said of his store. "It's hard to get these things in America."
Gerhart is hanging his hat on the synergy of the new businesses.
A developer of a hip, funky, artistic neighborhood might not be what you'd expect from an ex-Army captain. But Gerhart doesn't see it that way.
"I've always been this way," he said with a laugh. "I like to hang out with hippy dudes. I'm not one of them, but they're definitely more relaxed."
Serving in Iraq took its toll on his spirit. "Maybe I just got tired of it," he said.
His wife came here to attend Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, and they fell in love with Erie. He was looking for an opportunity, and city economics played right into his hands.
He said developers had bought up properties on the block in anticipation of the Koehler Brewery Square project, which promised a brewery and retail shops. That plan fell through, and the Peach Street buildings went up for sale.
"Owners were trying to get rid of the buildings up here," he said. Gerhart was more than happy to oblige.
He has big plans. His 10-year vision of the street resembles a small version of Pittsburgh's Strip District, with the roads blocked to cars and open-air markets everywhere.
"You travel around and see other communities like this," he said. "Why can't we have this in Erie?"
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