Relic Signs: The Bootery (1958-2025) – Atlanta

This old parrot was recently toppled from its longtime perch on Atlanta’s Peachtree Street. Squawk!

The Bootery was a national shoe store chain that first opened in Atlanta in 1946, catering to “Boys and Girls of All Ages,”¹ and later touting itself as “Atlanta’s Most Popular Children’s Shoe Store.”²

When the store moved to 81 Peachtree Street (previously 81 Whitehall Street) in August 1958,^{3 4} it was an exclusive seller of Poll-Parrot shoes, for which the parrot was a mascot.^{5 6}

The store closed sometime after 1996,⁷ but the sign was left to fade and rust for decades, and was finally removed in 2025 as the structure at 81 Peachtree was hollowed out to serve as a courtyard, part of a major renovation of the neighboring Bass Dry Goods building.⁸

References

1. Advertisement. The Atlanta Constitution, March 15, 1946, p. 6. ↩︎
2. Advertisement. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, March 30, 1958, p. 9-F. ↩︎
3. ‘”The Bootery” Shoe Store Grand Opening August 14-16’. Atlanta Daily World, August 13, 1958, p. 3. ↩︎
4. Advertisement. The Atlanta Constitution, August 14, 1958, p. 16. ↩︎
5. ibid. ↩︎
6. Advertisement. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, March 30, 1958, p. 9-F. ↩︎
7. Advertisement. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 26, 1996, p. 25. ↩︎
8. Photo tour: Where South Downtown’s painstaking rebirth stands now | Urbanize Atlanta ↩︎