Editing Macy's Great Tree (section)

==History==
Beginning in 1948, the [[Rich's (department store)|Rich's]] [[department store]] put a large [[pine]] [[tree]] atop its [[flagship]] [[downtown Atlanta]] store, [[grand illumination|lighting it]] on [[Thanksgiving (US)|Thanksgiving]] night.  The idea was conceived by head of [[advertising]] Frank Pallotta.  Later, the tree was perched atop the four-story "Crystal Bridge" that connected the original Rich's department store with a new building addition on the opposite side of Forsyth Street. With the tree on the [[roof]] of the complex, combined with its tall height, the Great Tree could be seen for tens of miles outside the downtown district of Atlanta.  It was visible for decades, until Rich's downtown store closed in mid-1991 and the tree was moved to a smaller, less-imposing spot in [[Underground Atlanta]]. From there it was later moved to [[Lenox Square]] mall, but neither location provided as spectacular a view of the tree as when it stood on the Crystal Bridge.

As the tree became an Atlanta tradition, more was added to the display to create an attraction in its own right. This included [[Santa's workshop|Santa's Workshop]], complete with reindeer on loan from the [[Stone Mountain Park]] [[petting zoo|Petting Zoo]] that parents and children would walk through on the way to visit with [[Santa Claus]].  Also, inside the store, was "Santa's Secret Shop". Off-limits to the adults, children entered an enclosed mini shopping area. All of this "spirit of Christmas" started at the street level with animated [[window display]]s such as angels playing violins in the windows.

The Rich's department store chain was sold to [[Federated Department Stores]] in 1975. After years of contraction, Federated closed Rich's main downtown store in the 1990s and moved the tree to nearby [[Underground Atlanta]].  In 2000, the tree was relocated once again to the rooftop of Rich's [[Lenox Square]] mall store, in the [[Buckhead (Atlanta)|Buckhead]] ([[wikt:uptown|uptown]]) community, located north of the downtown and the midtown districts.  Federated began a [[merger]] of the R.H. Macy's department stores with Rich's in the early 2000s, with the remaining Rich's stores being renamed Rich's-Macy's. On January 1, 2006, the Rich's name was dropped altogether in favor of the nationally known Macy's moniker. The 2005 holiday season was known as the last year of "Rich's Great Tree", even though the tradition continued as "The Great Tree at Macy's" (after two years as the Rich's-Macy's Great Tree).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lpe.ajc.com/gallery/view/living/1105/macytree/1 |title=Macy's Great Tree &#124; ajc.com |access-date=2005-11-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051126215539/http://lpe.ajc.com/gallery/view/living/1105/macytree/1 |archive-date=2005-11-26 }}</ref>

After two years of incidents involving the tree (the 2011 tree snapped upon installation, and the crane removing the 2012 tree collapsed, causing damage to the store), Macy's announced in November 2013 that the Great Tree would be replaced with a smaller artificial tree and placed in the corner of the mall parking lot, officially ending 65 years of Atlanta tradition.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.ajc.com/news/macy-goes-for-artificial-great-tree/0brGuHquoBOasu7cCzBvqO/|title=Macy's goes for artificial Great Tree|first=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|last=Alexis Stevens|website=ajc}}</ref>  Atlantans can expect the new tree to grow higher with years, as Macy's is planning to keep adding tree footage with the years to come as its budget allows, since they can acquire three-foot (nearly one-meter) sections locally from the [[Alpharetta]]-based manufacturer.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wabe.org/macys-use-artificial-christmas-tree-year/|title=Macy's To Use Artificial Christmas Tree This Year|date=November 6, 2013}}</ref>

2020 brought changes caused by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]: officials had set up the tree behind closed doors.

In December 2023 Macy's announced they ended the yearly tradition of the tree lighting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/what-happened-macys-great-tree-this-is-what-weve-learned/5ZSKYOK5HZAW3IMF4IR7AFVDJE/|title=What happened to the Macy’s Great Tree? This is what we’ve learned|date=December 12, 2023}}</ref>