Davidson-Paxton/Macy's Department Store

In 1927 Davison-Paxon, a division of R.H. Macy & Co., opened its 600,000 SF department store with little fanfare, marking the beginning of a new retail district at Peachtree and Ellis streets away from the central city railroad tracks. Designed by Hentz, Adler and Shutze, Architects of Atlanta, and Starrett & Van Vleek of New York City, the modified Renaissance Revival building had the largest store window expanse in the country. It also incorporated a small vaudeville theater, which operated on the site for 20 years. All Davison’s stores changed their name to Macy’s in 1985; the downtown store was closed in 2003. Today, the former department store underwent a restoration and repurposing into an events and office space.