Davison's
 | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1860s |
| Defunct | 1986 |
| Fate | rebranded |
| Successor | Macy's |
| Headquarters | Georgia, South Carolina |
| Products | clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares |
| Parent | R.H. Macy & Co. |
Davison's of Atlanta was the major competition to Rich's, a legendary Atlanta shopping institution.
Founding
Davison's was founded around the time Rich's was founded as Davison-Paxon and later Davison-Paxon-Stokes, rising from the same Atlanta ashes from which Rich's rose. While what was then known as M. Rich Brothers Dry Goods Company remained a family owned store, Davison-Paxon-Stokes sold out to R.H. Macy & Co. in 1925. This sale was most likely a knee-jerk reaction to the huge new store opened that same year by the Rich family.
By 1927, R.H. Macy built the huge Peachtree Street store that still stands today, but no longer as a department store.
The downtown Davison's store was a classic example of a downtown shopping experience. The main entrance on Peachtree featuired a very stately marbled cosmetics and jewelry area, modelled after Macy's flagship store on Herald Square in New York City. There was a mezzanine overlooking the level with escalators leading to that floor. A bank of elevators in the rear served floors from the basement through the sixth floor. The Mezzanine and the 3rd floor connected with the parking garage across Carnegie Way. When the Peachtree Plaza Hotel opened next door in 1975, an entrance connected the two buildings, although the difference in floor heights required several steps up from Macy's into the hotel.
Davison's was owned by R.H. Macy & Co for sixty years before the name change, but made no effort to disguise its affiliation. Advertisements clearly stated "Davison's - a division of R.H. Macy & Co." and charge cards from Davison's were usable at Macy's and Bamberger's.
Growth
Over time, the Davison-Paxon Company was shortened to simply Davison's, and that was not long after met by an aggressive expansion across Georgia. Locations opened in the downtowns of Athens, Augusta, Macon and Columbus, as well as a store in downtown Columbia, while Rich's was still exclusively in Atlanta. In Augusta, Davison's competed with the former J.B. White chain and in Columbus, Kirven's. In 1959 Davison's opened its first suburban location at Lenox Square Mall along with Rich's.
Throughout the 1960s, Rich's began to very aggressively expand in the suburbs while Davison's remained a downtown player for the most part. However, Davison's did open one mall location at the now vacant Columbia Mall (later known as Avondale Mall) near Avondale Estates. Davison's expanded again in the 1970s and 1980s with locations at Cumberland, Southlake, Gwinnett Place, Shannon, Northlake and Perimeter Malls. New locations also replaced the downtown stores in all the other cities mentioned except Columbus, which faced stronger competition from regional chains, and Columbia, where the downtown Macy's store closed and was left vacant. The new Davison's stores were typically white brick with small glass atriums at the entrances; an example of this style is still visible at Northlake Mall and the Bloomingdales at Perimeter Mall
Mergers
In the mid-1980s, Macy's had begun to consolidate its regional divisions to streamline its corporate structure. In January 1985 Davison's and Macy's Midwest were combined into one division, Macy's Atlanta.
Macy's had already begun to shed its southern skin and began to slowly retire the Davison's name. In 1984 the logo had been changed to the same font of its more famous counterpart in the ITC Avant Garde font.
By 1985, when the change was announced and stores were re-branded as Macy's. By early 1986, all Davison's became Macy's and the first Atlanta store to open exclusively as Macy's opened at Town Center Mall.
Final act
By 2003, former Davison's stores were closed when Rich's and Macy's were consolidated under the "Rich's-Macy's," nameplate. That same year, the historic downtown Davison's/Macy's store was also closed, ending the era of department store shopping in downtown Atlanta. All of the old Davison's mall stores in Atlanta were then vacant except for three locations. The Perimeter Mall and Lenox Square locations were renovated and reopened as Bloomingdale's. The Northlake location was re-branded as Rich's-Macy's before changing back to simply Macy's two years later. One floor of the Town Center location, which had opened as Macy's, was preserved in part as a Rich's-Macy's Furniture Gallery location. The remainder of Davison's former locations are vacant except for the locations at Cumberland Mall, Avondale/Columbia Mall, and Augusta Mall. The Cumberland Mall location was torn down in late 2005 for a major overhaul at the 32-year-old center. The Avondale/Columbia Mall location was completely demolished with the rest of the mall for a Wal-Mart SuperCenter. The Augusta Mall location was open till 2006 as a Macy's Furniture Showroom. It has closed to make way for a lifestyle center similar to Cumberland Mall, another General Growth Properties Mall.
Former store locations
All locations here were converted to Davison's/Macy's in 1985 and to Macy's in 1986 except for the Columbus location. All former locations outside of Atlanta had previously existed in the downtowns of each respective city listed.
| City | Shopping center | Existed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | Peachtree Street | 1927-1986 | Closed 2003 |
| Lenox Square | 1959-1986 | Converted to Bloomingdale's in 2003 | |
| Cumberland Mall | 1973-1986 | Closed 2003 & Demolished 2005 | |
| Perimeter Mall | 1982-1986 | Converted to Bloomingdale's 2003 | |
| Decatur | Columbia Mall | 1964-1986 | Closed 1995 & Demolished 2007 |
| Tucker | Northlake Mall | 1976-1986 | Converted to signed Rich's-Macy's in 2003 |
| Morrow | Southlake Mall (Atlanta) | 1976-1986 | Closed 2003 |
| Union City | Shannon Mall | 1980-1986 | Closed 1998 |
| Duluth | Gwinnett Place Mall | 1984-1986 | Closed 2003 |
| Macon | Macon Mall | 1975-1986 | Converted to Rich's 1998-2005 |
| Augusta | Augusta Mall | 1978-1986 | Converted to Rich's-Macy's Furniture Gallery in 2003. Closed in 2006 for demolition for new lifestyle center |
| Athens | Downtown Store | ? - 1981 | Former Michael Brothers Building. Left for Mall. |
| Georgia Square Mall | 1981-1986 | Converted to Rich's 1998-2005 | |
| Columbus | Downtown Store | unknown | |
| Columbia SC | Downtown Store | ? - 1986 | Closed 1992, now an art museum |
Former Davison's Store Pictures
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Davison's Flagship Store, Peachtree St Downtown -
Athens GA Downtown Davison's -
Athens GA Mall Davison's
