Explore DEJA NEWS: Rich’s department store head dies; Atlanta mourns Rich’s started in May 1867 as M. Rich & Co., originally in a store on Atlanta’s historic Whitehall Street.

One Atlanta merchant who balked at this style of decentralized retailing was Richard H. Rich, who took the helm of Rich's, his family’s department store firm, in 1949.

What they don’t seem interested in is nostalgia, whether it’s Pink Pig–hued memories of Rich’s department store or Sweet Auburn before the Connector split it in two. Downtown’s best days ...