Lenox Square

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Lenox Square
Lenox Square
Facts and statistics
Location Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Opening date 1959
Developer Simon Properties
Management Simon Properties
Owner Simon Properties
No. of anchor tenants 3
Total retail floor area 1,450,000 sq ft (135,000 m²)
No. of floors 4
Website Lenox Square Mall

Lenox Square, owned by the Simon Property Group, is a shopping mall located in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. It was the first major shopping mall in Georgia. The mall is a sister property to Phipps Plaza located across the street.

Contents

[edit] History

It opened in August 1959 and was originally an open-air mall anchored by Rich's, Davison's and a Colonial grocery store. There were 60 original tenants, including a bowling alley and a Kresge five and dime store. A movie theater opened in June 1963.[1]

In the early 1970s, Lenox Square was enclosed to compete with the newer enclosed malls that had opened in the region. The enclosure of the mall was undertaken in tandem with the construction of a new wing, which included Georgia's first and only Neiman Marcus. A second expansion was completed in 1980 that added a three-level section at the back of the mall and a food court, as well as a connection to MARTA's Lenox transit station that opened after service to an extension of the transit system's Northeast Line commenced in December 1984. Davison's name was replaced in 1985 with the name Davison's/Macy's and then finally just Macy's in 1986.[2]

In 1995, the mall opened its largest expansion yet, adding a second story above the original one-level section. The expansion made Lenox Square, at the time, the largest shopping center in the Southeast, with 1.5 million square feet (140,000m²) divided among 240 stores and restaurants.[3]

[edit] Atlanta Traditions

Lenox Square has become a key part of the traditions of Atlanta since its opening in 1959.

[edit] 4th of July Fireworks

1960, Lenox Square began an annual tradition of hosting what would later become the largest Independence Day fireworks displays in the Southeast (now broadcast live, usually on WGCL-TV and WSTR FM).

[edit] Lighting of the Macy's Great Tree

Rich's was one of the original tenants at Lenox Square Mall. Rich's and Atlanta became synonymous over the years with its expansions downtown and later into the malls around the south. In 1991, with the closure of the original Rich's in downtown Atlanta, the Rich's at Lenox Square became the chain's flagship. In 2000 it also became the home to the Rich's Great Tree, the city's giant public outdoor Christmas tree, after nearly a decade at Underground Atlanta. Rich's said goodbye to the city March 6th, 2005 with its conversion to the Macy's nameplate after operating at Rich's-Macy's for almost 2 years. The tree was re-named the "Macy's Great Tree" at this time. The annual lighting of the tree begins every Thanksgiving night at 7pm and is broadcast locally on WSB-TV.

[edit] Lenox Today

With the elimination of the Rich's brand by Federated Department Stores in 2005, the Rich's location at Lenox Square became the flagship of the Macy's South division. The former Davison's/Macy's location at the mall closed for remodeling to open as a Bloomingdale's in October 2003. In 2006, the Simon Property Group launched a fourth expansion project, extending the second story completed in 1995 over the Neiman Marcus wing of the complex.

[edit] Around Lenox

Lenox Square is connected via parkway to the 27-story JW Marriott Buckhead hotel, classified as a 4-Diamond hotel by the AAA.

Phipps Plaza, located diagonally across the intersection of Lenox and Peachtree roads, is Lenox Square's sister mall.

The area around Lenox has grown immensely in the past 50 years, and now includes many high-rise buildings which are in essence low skyscrapers. Some of these are very expensive condos, while others are offices. A two-story Target store sits across from Lenox at Lenox Plaza, connected inside via escalators and elevators designed for shopping carts as well as shoppers, and having checkouts on both levels at the exits to a parking deck. The Sembler Company was the developer. While this is common in densely-packed cities like New York, this is extremely rare in mostly low-density areas like metro Atlanta.

Traffic levels around Lenox are high and the streets are confusing for those unfamiliar with the area. Georgia 400 (a tollway to the north, and freeway south to nearby Interstate 85) opened in 1993, restricting traffic to and from the west after it cut many existing roads. However, the buc (Buckhead Uptown Connection), the free shuttle bus service around Buckhead is available, supported voluntarily by a self-taxing district (Buckhead CID) which includes Lenox, and by GRTA and other agencies. The Peachtree Streetcar initiative would also extend free or low-fare streetcars to Lenox in the north, through midtown and downtown, to a proposed mixed-use redevelopment around historic Fort McPherson, 14 miles (23 km) south.

[edit] Anchor stores

  • Bloomingdale's (Opened 1959 as Davison's with name changed to Macy's in 1985 - extensively remodeled and re-opened as Bloomingdale's October 2003, 274,000 sq ft.)
  • Macy's (Opened 1959 as Rich's and converted to the Rich's-Macy's name in 2003 followed by the Macy's name in 2005, 433,308 sq ft.)
  • Neiman Marcus (Opened 1972 as sole Georgia location, 205,000 sq ft.)

[edit] Exclusive tenants

Lenox Square holds the sole Atlanta metropolitan area outposts of:

Lenox Square also offers larger volume/capacity or flagship versions of the following stores:

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://georgiaretailmemories.blogspot.com/2006/08/lenox-square-mall.html Georgia Retail Memories blog Lenox Square Early Years
  2. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davison%27s Davison's Information
  3. ^ http://www.simon.com/mall/mall_info.aspx?ID=207 Lenox Information

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Atlanta-area shopping malls
Current
Defunct
v • d • e
Atlanta landmarks
Current

Atlanta Botanical Garden • Atlanta City Hall • Atlanta Civic Center • Atlanta Cyclorama • Atlanta History Center • Atlanta Symphony Hall • Atlanta University Center • Atlantic Station • Bobby Dodd Stadium • Centennial Olympic Park • Center for Puppetry Arts • Chattahoochee River • Clermont Lounge • CNN Center • Fernbank Museum of Natural History • Fernbank Science Center • Fox Theatre • Georgia Aquarium • Georgia Dome • Georgia Governor's Mansion • Georgia International Convention Center • Georgia State Capitol • Georgia World Congress Center • Grant Park • Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport • High Museum of Art • Jimmy Carter Library and Museum • Joel Chandler Harris Home (Wren's Nest) • Lenox Square • Margaret Mitchell House & Museum • Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site • Mary Mac's Tea Room • Oakland Cemetery • Philips Arena • Phipps Plaza • Piedmont Park • Stone Mountain • Tech Tower • The Varsity • Turner Field • Underground Atlanta • Woodruff Arts Center • Woodruff Park • World of Coca-Cola • Zoo Atlanta
Former