Schultz Warehouse on Parade Street

The three buildings on the southwest corner of 16th and Parade in Erie, PA have an interesting history. The smaller brick building on the left was Schultz's Wholesale Cash and Carry, which was located at 1612 Parade St. (at the site of a warehouse run by Charles Newkirk in the 1920s). If your parents or grandparents had a corner store in Erie, they probably stocked their business with items purchased here. Mr. Schultz had a variety of things, including showcases and store fixtures, school supplies, lamps and fans. You could also stock up on cigars, Necco candies, salted nuts, playing cards, razor blades and shoe polish. Fountain supplies included glassware, straws, Coca-Cola, Canada Dry, Saegertown and Borden's malted milk. They sold paper items such as Dixie Cups, napkins, envelopes, kraft bags, etc.

Arthur F. Schultz Company was located in the middle building, at 1608 Parade St. This retail business has been around for nearly one hundred years, having morphed into a huge furniture and appliance retailer. This brick building was constructed around 1914 and still bears the Schultz name in large white letters. When this card was used in the 1930s, Arthur F. Schultz sold confections and tobacco, which he used to deliver in a horse-drawn carriage. The A. F. Schultz Company later moved into the old Erie Silk Mills factory at 26th and Cascade St. in Erie.

The Germer Stove Company manufactured the Radiant Home base burner stove at 1602 Parade Street, the brick building on the right. This brick warehouse was built in 1875 on the corner of 16th and Parade, just south of the railroad tracks. Edward Germer was the president of Germer Stove, and his son Edward Jr. was the secretary of the company. Sales of the old claw foot cast iron stoves waned with the advent of natural gas and hot water furnaces. Some of the ornate Germer Stoves with art tiles, mica doors and medallions sell for a few thousand dollars to antique collectors today.

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie