A quick drive down Parade Street is all you need to see the formerly blighted stretch of road has been revitalized. After decades of failed plans to bring the neighborhood back to life, it just took an influx of thousands of refugees: New Americans from Nepal, Bhutan, India, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Western Africa and Asia have arrived, settled here and are in need of groceries.
If you're curious about what you can find in these shops, or not sure you'd feel welcome on your own, this is your chance to peek inside. Erie Arts & Culture hosts walking tours through September of several of the shops on Parade Street selling goods that don't make the shelves of the typical American supermarket: Exotic produce, frozen staples, meats, baked goods, beverages, housewares, cookware, clothing and more.
"This is the American dream for them," said tour guide Wujan Ahmad about the store owners on the tour. "This is the epitome of the American dream. We wanted to focus on and feature refugee-owned businesses that are local."
That's what 16 people gathered to see on a tour July 20.
Tour the dream
"We like to do things like this to learn about the places we visit," said Nancy Cavanaugh, who took the tour with her husband, Terry Cavanaugh. "We've also done tours in Pensacola, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama."
Cindy Andrus said she signed up for the tour to learn about her own community.
"We drive by and get curious about these places, but until someone gets us motivated, we don't stop and go in," she said.
What do you see?
First, meet your guide, Wujdan Ahmad (also known as "Wuji"). She was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1993, and also lived in Jordan before moving with her family to the United States in 2001 when she was 8 years old.
She works for EAC and knows these businesses inside and out. She speaks loudly enough to be heard outside, and is enthusiastic about the tour's popularity.
The tour offers an introduction to each store by its owner, a sample of a treat you might find there, such as Turkish coffee (Almadina), spicy snacks (UK International), or Vim-to slushies (Moe's One Stop Shop), and more. Don't miss the ginger/coconut hard candy at UK.
Store owners, knowing the diversity of the neighborhood, stock items for cooking by Indians, Nepalis, Bhutanese, Africans, Eastern Europeans, Russia, southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The owners are all immigrants themselves, including Mohammad Alnasari at Almadina, 2325 Parade St., who passed out samples of Turkish coffee while describing the store. He's been in Erie for 25 years.
"Erie is my home. I don't want to go anywhere else," Alnasari said.
The first stop is UK International Supermarket, run by brothers, Pradit and Mohan Upreti, who came here in 2010 from Nepal. Their store isn't named for the British Isles, but is rather a combination of their last initial and another family name.
Moe's All-in-One, 2401 Parade St., owned by Amir Silmi, stocks not just ethnic groceries and snacks, but also hair and other beauty products, as well as telecommunication devices.
"We started as a pager store," said Silmi, adding that he's Palestinian and that his family came to America in 1971. He's been in business since 1997.
Moe's offers at least one thing everyone needs to try this summer: Vim-to slushies. Vim-to is a soft drink popular in the British Isles as well as in the Middle East, made with grapes, raspberries, black currants, herbs and spices blended with sweetener. It's sold in bottles and cans up and down Parade Street, but Moe's is the place to go for a dark purple slushie made with the soda.
Fadak International Foods, 2601 Parade St., is owned by an Iraqi family headed by Ruqaia Kadhim. The family also owns the Halal Eats restaurant, at 2825 Raspberry St. All the meat in both the market and restaurant are halal-certified, meaning it has been slaughtered and blessed by an Arab cleric. Fadak also offers fresh produce and dry goods.
"Everyone was so gracious," said Cindy Andrus, who took the tour with her friend, Aileen Baxter. "I was not expecting to find that the prices were better."
Indeed, many of the ethnic goods we pay for at traditional American supermarkets are sold more cheaply at the ethnic stores on Parade, such as spices, produce and other staples.
Lori Lidley, who is on the board of Erie Arts and Culture, is also dean of the College of Humanities at Gannon University, inspired two of her friends to join her on the tour.
"I thought it looked interesting," Lidley said. "I wanted to see some of these businesses and learn about different types of food."
Brittany Hayden brought her two nephews who were visiting from Texas.
"I wanted them to get a cultural snapshot of Erie," she said. "I wanted them to meet the refugees and new Americans and show them the food."
When can you take the tour?
Remaining tour dates include Aug. 3, 10 a.m. to noon; Aug. 17, 3 to 5 p.m.; Sept. 7, 10 a.m. to noon; and Sept. 21 from 3 to 5 p.m. The tours are $30 per person.
To sign up, visit erieartsandculture.org/calendar, or call 814-452-3427.
Contact Jennie Geisler atjgeisler@timesnews.com. Find her weekly newsletter athttps://profile.goerie.com/newsletters/erielicious/.
