For the past seven and a half decades around the holidays, Atlantans have been able to look up atop a high building and see the Macy’s Christmas tree, lit with dazzling colorful Christmas lights. Sadly, this year, there will be no more Macy’s Christmas tree twinkling up in the sky. The company has decided to retire the tradition.
The history of the tree
11Alive News reports, “The Macy’s Christmas tree lighting began in 1948 when it first stood on top of Rich’s department store in Downtown Atlanta. When the store closed in 1991, the tree moved to Underground Atlanta until leaving for Macy’s in 2002. It then resided atop the Macy’s at Lenox Square for over 20 years prior to it being retired in 2023.”
For the last two decades, the Macy’s Christmas tree has lived on top of the Lenox Square Mall, shining like a little Christmas beacon around the holidays. We’ll miss its shine above the skyline.
Why not light the tree?
11Alive reports, “In a statement, the department store chain said they ‘evaluate our event programming and how we can best serve the metro-Atlanta community’ each year.” This means Macy’s might not have seen the tree as serving the community any longer, but the reasoning is a little unclear still.
11Alive also notes, “The announcement comes just days after Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced the iconic New Year’s Eve Peach Drop at Underground Atlanta will not take place this year… Dickens’ office pointed to the collection of other events and commemorations held this year that required resources as one reason for the decision not to stage a Peach Drop this year.” This could point to the fact that there isn’t enough funding to keep the lights on. Again, it is not fully clear the reasoning why.
Thankfully, Atlanta is still full of fun things to do this holiday season. But we’ll miss the Macy’s Christmas tree for sure.