Eckerd Drug Store Chain Started in Erie PA

-ad in Erie Daily Times, September 18, 1958.

Eckerd Drug Store, a national chain, got its humble start in Erie, Pennsylvania. J. Milton Eckerd opened a store at 1105 State Street in 1898. Eckerd's had 46 stores in 1958 when it celebrated its 60th anniversary. Six of these drug stores were located in Erie, PA. They included:
1109 State St.
832 State St.
706 State St.
3530 Peach St. (had a soda fountain)
3702 West 12th St. (had a soda fountain)
Perry Plaza on Broad St. (had a soda fountain)

Eckerds also had store in Meadville, PA (2 stores); Oil City, PA (1); Franklin, PA (1); New Castle, PA (1); Jamestown, NY (1); Zanesville, OH (1); South Bend, IN (1); Wilmington, DE (6 stores- first one opened in 1912); Tampa, FL (2); Clearwater, FL (2); St. Petersburg, FL (1); Asheville, NC (3); Charlotte, NC (5 stores, first one opened in 1921); Durham, NC (2); High Point, NC (1); Raleigh, NC (1); Columbia, SC (2); Greenville, NC (2); Chattanooga, TN (2); Winston-Salem, NC (2); and Greensboro, NC (1).

Founder J. Milton Eckerd died in 1967 at the age of 94.

In 1976, Eckerd's had eleven stores in Erie County, PA:
832 State St.
3530 Peach St.
Perry Plaza on Broad St.
2169 West 12th St.
3702 West 12th St.
2601 West 26th St.
38th and Pacific
714 East Ave.
4415 Buffalo Rd., Harborcreek
West Main and South Mill, North East, PA
202 Waterford St., Edinboro, PA

J. C. Penney purchased Eckerd Corp. in 1997.

R.I.P. Eckerd's.