LENOX SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER
Peachtree and Lenox Roads
Atlanta, Georgia

Originally conceived as a middle-market venue, LENOX SQUARE has evolved into one of the most upscale shopping centers in the southeast.

The 32 million dollar, open-air shopopolis was constructed 8.6 miles northeast of Atlanta's Five Points, on a 75 acre site which had been the estate of John K. Ottley.

Developed by Edward E. Noble (under the auspices of Noble Properties) and designed by Joe Amisano, the complex opened August 3, 1959 with fifty-two retailers. There were two Atlanta-based department stores as its anchors; a 3-level (180,000 square foot) Rich's and 2-level (120,000 square foot) Davison-Paxon.

The original LENOX SQUARE also included several 2-level inline stores; Haverty's Furniture, Muse's, J.P Allen, Parks-Chambers and an S.S. Kresge 5 and 10.

1-level stores and services included Dipper Dan's Ice Cream Parlor, Merle Norman Cosmetics, Zachary For Men and a 31,500 square foot Colonial supermarket, at the time, the largest grocery store in the South. An outparcel Gulf service station, in the southeast parking area, resembled a spaceship.

Encompassing 800,000 leasable square feet, the shopping center was built on 3 levels. The Mall Level, coming off the Peachtree Road (upper level) lot, had the Rich's store, an open court area, and landscaped corridor with several statues depicting characters in the Uncle Remus stories.

At the southeast end of the Mall Level corridor (in front of Davison's) was an escalator descent onto a second open court, the Plaza Level, which had tree planters and two fountains. An entrance to Davison's lower level was situated on this court, as were entries to the Kresge 5 & 10 and Colonial supermarket.

The Market Level and sub-level parking deck were situated beneath the Plaza Level Court and Colonial. In June 1963, the single-screen Lenox Theatre opened on this floor of the shopping center, with its marque facing the southern end of East Paces Ferry Road.

In 1967, an adjacent indoor golf-driving range was refitted as an additional movie house. Eventually, there were six auditoriums in operation within the mall's cinema complex.

By the early 1970s, LENOX -still an open-air center- was experiencing competition from newer, fully-enclosed shopping venues in the northern suburbs of Atlanta. PHIPPS PLAZA [April 2008 archive] opened in 1969, and was located across Peachtree Road. PERIMETER MALL [also in the April 2008 Archive] was completed in 1971, and was 5 miles northeast.

In response to these new centers, the Mall Level at LENOX was enclosed in 1971-1972, with the soaring concrete arches overhead being ripped out. An adjacent West Wing was added, with a 2-level (153,700 square foot), Dallas-based Neiman Marcus at its end. Two parking garages were also built.

Another major renovation began in 1979, when the open-air, Plaza Level court was demolished. The Colonial supermarket, by then a Big Star, was razed and a new 3-level Food Court and retail area was built, incorporating parts of the previously-existing Market Level.

This was joined by a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority / MARTA rapid transit station, located near the mall's new Food Court entrance, which opened in December 1984.

In 1994, a major interior and exterior renovation began. The Mall Level had an Upper Level added, with forty new stores. A third parking garage was also added.

Anchor store rebrandings had got underway in the 1980s. Davison's became Macy's in 1986 and a Bloomingdale's in 2003. The Rich's moniker remained until 2003 when it morphed into Rich's-Macy's. In 2005, the Rich's name was retired, with all stores in the chain rebranded as simply Macy's. The LENOX Neiman Marcus has retained its nameplate since the store opened.

During the more recent remodelings of the mall, its two original anchor stores were expanded. The Rich's / Macy's building was enlarged to 433,300 square feet and the Davison's / Macy's / Bloomingdale's to 274,000 square feet.

The latest renovation of the shopping center entailed the addition of a new Upper Level of retail over the existing West Wing. The 153,700 square foot Neiman Marcus was expanded to 205,700 square feet and 36,000 square feet of inline store space was added to the mall. This project was completed in late 2007.

Today, LENOX SQUARE encompasses 1,477,600 leasable square feet, boasts 4 levels of retail, and houses over two hundred and forty stores. The Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group acquired the mall in September 1998.

Sources:

Mall memories of Stan Malone
Personal recollection of the author
Malls Of America Blogspot
Georgia Retail Memories Blog
http://www.lenoxsquare.com/
http://www.itsmarta.com/
http://www.library.gsu.edu/
Cinema Treasures website
"Lenox Square" article on Wikipedia
"Rich's" article on Wikipedia
"Davison's" article on Wikipedia