Davison's
| File:Davison's logo 1970-1985.svg Former Davison's logo used between 1970 and 1985 | |
| Company type | Department store chain |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Predecessor | Davison & Douglas |
| Founded | 1 January 1891 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Fate | Acquired by Macy's in 1925; rebranded as Macy's in 1985 |
| Headquarters | Atlanta , United States |
Area served | Georgia and South Carolina, United States |
| Products | Clothing, cosmetics, jewelry, furniture (department store products) |
| Parent | R.H. Macy & Co. (from 1925) |
Davison's was a department store chain based in the United States, established in 1891 in Atlanta, Georgia. It became a prominent regional retailer, serving as a key competitor to Rich's within the Atlanta area. Over time, Davison's expanded its operations across Georgia and into South Carolina. The company was acquired by Macy's in 1925 and eventually rebranded under the Macy's name in 1985.
Origins
The inception of Davison's dates back to 1891 when it first opened in Atlanta, originally operating under the name Davison & Douglas. In 1901, following the departure of E. Lee Douglas from the enterprise, the business was renamed Davison-Paxon-Stokes. This change coincided with Frederic John Paxon's promotion to treasurer. By early 1927, the firm simplified its name to Davison Paxon Co., dropping "Stokes" from the title.
Acquisition by Macy's
Unlike its competitor, the family-owned M. Rich Brothers Dry Goods Company, Davison-Paxon-Stokes was acquired by R.H. Macy & Co in 1925. By 1927, R.H. Macy had constructed the expansive Peachtree Street flagship store at 200 Peachtree, a building that remains standing today.
The Davison's downtown location epitomized the traditional downtown retail atmosphere. Its main entrance on Peachtree showcased an elegant marble-floored section dedicated to cosmetics and jewelry, inspired by Macy's iconic flagship at Herald Square in New York. A mezzanine level overlooked this area, accessible via escalators. A bank of elevators located at the rear provided access from the basement up through the sixth floor. The mezzanine and third floors were linked to the adjacent parking garage across Carnegie Way. When the neighboring Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel opened in 1976, a connecting entrance was established between the two buildings, though differences in floor elevation required several steps to transition from Davison's into the hotel.
Davison's operated under Macy's ownership for six decades while retaining its original name and openly acknowledging its corporate relationship. Marketing materials prominently displayed "Davison's - a division of R.H. Macy & Co.", and Davison's charge cards were accepted at Macy's and Bamberger's, with reciprocal use allowed.
Expansion
The company gradually shortened its name from Davison-Paxon Company to simply Davison's before launching an assertive growth strategy throughout Georgia and South Carolina. New stores opened in downtown areas of cities such as Athens, Augusta, Macon, and Columbus, as well as in downtown Columbia. During this period, Rich's maintained operations exclusively within Atlanta. In Augusta, Davison's faced competition from the J.B. White chain, while Kirven's was its primary rival in Columbus. The first suburban branch opened in 1959 at the Lenox Square mall alongside Rich's.
Throughout the 1960s, Rich's pursued an aggressive suburban expansion strategy, whereas Davison's largely remained focused on downtown locations. Nevertheless, Davison's did open a mall store at the now-demolished Columbia Mall (later renamed Avondale Mall) near Avondale Estates. The subsequent decades of the 1970s and 1980s saw further expansion with stores established at malls including Cumberland, Southlake, Gwinnett Place, Shannon, Northlake, and Perimeter. These newer locations replaced most downtown outlets except for Columbus, where stronger regional competition limited such changes. The Columbia store remained the sole downtown presence—aside from the original Peachtree Street headquarters—in Macy’s Atlanta division until its closure in 1992 during Chapter 11 restructuring. Today, that site houses the Columbia Museum of Art. Architecturally, new Davison’s stores typically featured white brick exteriors with modest glass atriums marking their entrances.
Additionally, Davison’s sponsored the annual Egleston Children’s Christmas Parade, which continues to pass by the former downtown store location.
Transition to Macy's
During the mid-1980s, Macy's initiated a consolidation of its regional branches to create a more efficient corporate framework. On February 1, 1985, the Davison's division merged with Macy's Midwest, resulting in the formation of a unified division known as Macy's Atlanta.
The process of phasing out the Davison's brand name was gradual. In 1984, the logo was updated to adopt the slender typeface characteristic of its well-known counterpart, utilizing the ITC Avant Garde font style.
By November 1985, all stores previously operating under the Davison's banner officially adopted the Macy's name. The first location in the Atlanta metropolitan area to open under the Macy's identity debuted at Town Center at Cobb in February 1986.
Flagship location
The original downtown store no longer serves as a retail department store. As of 2012, the majority of the building—measuring approximately 338,000 square feet (31,400 m2) and located at 180 Peachtree—functions as a data center.
A separate portion of the structure, owned by 200 Peachtree Retail, a consortium of investors, undertook a substantial redevelopment project to repurpose part of this historic edifice—which had largely stood vacant since Macy’s closure in 2003—into an event venue named Southern Exchange Ballrooms. This facility accommodates conferences, weddings, social gatherings, and other special occasions. The investment in this transformation exceeded $30 million.
The venue now boasts an expansive Whitehall ballroom spanning over 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2), approximately 7,000 square feet (650 m2) of balcony areas, and The Davison Ballroom covering around 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2). Additional event spaces include The Cellar and The 155, collectively offering more than 43,000 square feet. The conference center provides roughly 20,000 square feet (1,860 m2) of meeting space, complemented by a 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) kitchen facility that houses Rosendale Events, an exclusive catering service helmed by Certified Master Chef Rich Rosendale. Furthermore, renowned Event Planner & Designer Brian Worley and his company B. Worley Productions operate from this venue.
This historic building also contains five dining establishments and has hosted significant events such as parties linked to the 2019 NFL Super Bowl, Major League Soccer’s Digital Headquarters gatherings, SEC Championship celebrations, and is scheduled to host the Golf Channel’s live coverage of the Payne Stewart Awards among numerous other high-profile occasions.
Branch transformations
By early 2003, nearly all former Davison's outlets had ceased operations following the merger of Rich's and Macy's under the unified "Rich's-Macy's" brand. In that same year, the iconic downtown Davison's/Macy's store located on Peachtree Street also shuttered its doors. This closure marked the conclusion of department-store retailing in downtown Atlanta. With the exception of three sites, all former Davison's mall stores throughout Atlanta were left unoccupied. The Perimeter Mall and Lenox Square branches were closed temporarily for renovations and reopened as Bloomingdale's toward the end of 2003. The Perimeter Mall store eventually closed in March 2012 and was replaced by Von Maur, while the Lenox Square location remains operational as of 2021. The Northlake store initially transitioned to Rich's-Macy's before reverting to Macy's two years later. At Town Center, one floor of the original Macy's location became a Rich's-Macy's Furniture Gallery, which is now divided into a Macy's Furniture Gallery and a Macy's Furniture Clearance Center on the upper level, with a Macy's Men's Store occupying the lower level, and an additional Macy's Furniture Gallery on the middle floor.
Most other former Davison’s sites remain vacant except for those at Cumberland Mall, Avondale/Columbia Mall, Gwinnett Place, and Augusta Mall. The Cumberland Mall store was demolished in late 2005 as part of a significant renovation of the 32-year-old facility; a standalone Costco was constructed just west of where Davison’s once stood. Today, this location features a courtyard-style lifestyle center housing tenants such as Ted’s Montana Grill (which closed in 2020 due to pandemic-related financial challenges), Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang’s, and Maggiano’s Little Italy. The Avondale/Columbia Mall site was completely razed along with the rest of the mall to make way for a Wal-Mart SuperCenter. The Gwinnett Place store now serves as a location for Korean retailer Mega Mart. The Augusta Mall branch operated as a Macy’s Furniture Showroom until 2006 before closing to allow redevelopment into a lifestyle center akin to that at Cumberland Mall, another property managed by General Growth Properties.
Gallery
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Davison’s flagship location in Atlanta, 1984
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Davison-Paxon-Stokes building, 1926
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Former Davison’s/Macy’s building, 2006
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Davison’s structure, 2004
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Downtown Athens Davison’s store
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Georgia Square Mall Davison’s branch, closed in 2017
See also
- List of defunct department stores of the United States
- List of department stores converted to Macy's
References
Template:Macy's history Template:Atlanta landmarks Template:Atlanta history