Lenox Square - History

History

Lenox Square was developed by Ed Noble, a former developer from Kansas City, Missouri, whose company, Noble Properties, acquired the site in 1956. Groundbreaking for the shopping center occurred in July 1957, and it was completed on June 29, 1958. The public opening ceremony for Lenox Square was held on August 3, 1959.

Initially containing 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) of retail, the shopping mall was situated on three levels; Mall. Plaza and Market. It was anchored by Rich's, Davison's, and a Colonial Stores supermarket. There were 52 original tenants, including a bowling alley, indoor golf driving range, and a Kresge five and dime store. The Mall Level concourse featured several statues depicting Uncle Remus characters, such as Br'er Fox, Br'er Frog and the Tar Baby. A movie theater opened on the Market Level in June 1963.

Within its first few years of its existence, Lenox Square would be a part of several major events in the city. It is the starting point in the annual Peachtree Road Race, one of the largest 10 kilometer races in the world.In 1985, Davison's merged with Macy's to form the Davison's-Macy's moniker, and in 1986, Davison's closed and was converted to a Macy's. In 2000, the celebration of the Rich's Great Tree moved to the flagship store from Underground Atlanta, after having been held downtown for decades.

In 1991, Rich's relocated their flagship store to Lenox Square from downtown Atlanta. In 2003, Federated Department Stores began integrating the Macy's name with their other regional department store brands, including Rich's. Following the news, the Lenox Macy's location closed and the building (along with the location at Perimeter Mall) was renovated extensively to house the first Bloomingdale's in the South, which opened in October 2003. In 2005, Federated Department Stores dropped the regional names of all of their department stores. The former Rich's-Macy's location at Lenox Square became the flagship of Macy's Central until all of the company's divisions had consolidated into one.