![]() In 1972, Stanley Marcus explained why he chose Atlanta for the sixth location of Neiman-Marcus. For the trendy, there’s Ed Hardy and Madewell.Ītlanta’s prominence in the Southeast is also a key. ![]() For the mainstream, there’s Gap, the Icing and Wet Seal. Simon recently spent $53 million expanding Neiman-Marcus by 52,000 square feet and adding a second level to the luxury wing with new shops like Zara and Calvin Klein.įor the well-heeled, there’s also Cartier, Bvlgari, Coach and Louis Vuitton. Anchor stores evolved from Davison’s and Rich’s to Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. Over time, Lenox added not only a roof and air conditioning but a fourth floor. He credited the mall’s three owners - first Noble Properties, then Corporate Property Investors and now Simon Property Group - with constantly reinvesting in the mall. “Lenox was first class when it was built, and it’s first class today,” he said. “I think it’s tapped the vein of the urban, Atlanta metro market.”įormer Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition, said another key is upkeep. “Lenox has steadily expanded to correspond to what is happening in metro Atlanta,” she said, in terms of pricing flexibility, styles and population diversity. ![]() ![]() Lenox would be eighth based on Sokolov’s figure.Ĭatherine Ross, director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development at Georgia Tech, said adapting is the crux of Lenox’s success. malls as the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, with $1,400 in sales per square foot, and Ala Moana in Honolulu, with $1,125 in sales per square foot. News & World Report in June listed the top U.S. Most other malls with that spending pedigree are within a chauffeured drive of Manhattan or Beverly Hills, or in glitzy tourist enclaves. Opened the same year buses in Atlanta were desegregated, the mall will soon have a men’s boutique called The Rowdy Collection, with clothes designed by hip-hop producer Dallas Austin.Īnd money talks: Lenox Square is among the top-selling malls in the country, with sales of $700 per square foot, according to Rick Sokolov, president of Simon Property Group, Lenox’s owner. Like the Baby Boomers who have taken to Facebook and Twitter, Lenox management has kept the mall hip, keeping on top of the latest trends and social changes. A walkway connects it to a Marriott Hotel and two MARTA stations are nearby. It was enclosed in 1972, and it’s now sized at 1.6 million square feet, making it one of the largest malls in the Southeast. “I remember my grandmother taking me to Brooks Brothers when I was six years old,” said Ben Carter, who went on to become the developer of the Mall of Georgia and Streets of Buckhead.Īs the grande dame of Atlanta malls - and the first - Lenox is on its sixth facelift. ![]() Many a prom dress, tuxedo and wedding band were bought there. Trips to Lenox are embedded in the memories of many longtime Atlantans and Georgians. “Most malls only have about a 20- to 25-year lifespan.” “The fact that it’s lived to fifty years old is very unusual in the world of retail,” said Ellen Dunham-Jones, a professor in the College of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology. What may be more impressive is Lenox’s staying power as a shopping magnet.Īt a time when many malls struggle to stay full of retailers and draw shoppers, Lenox thrums with activity and has a waiting list of tenants. Some say Lenox made Buckhead the commercial engine it is today, although others say it created a development frenzy that left the surrounding area traffic-choked and unwalkable. Major interstate highways crisscross nearby. Lenox, at 50 years old, is at the heart of a wealthy commercial district punctuated by office, hotel and residential towers. ![]()
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