Toco Hill(s) Shopping Center
Recently, I became aware there are people in Atlanta who say Toco Hill and there are those who say Toco Hills. I’ve always known it as Toco Hills, but after a recent trip to the shopping center, I noticed the large vertical sign in the middle of the complex is without an s. Social media posts include both versions of the name.
This large vertical Toco Hill sign is located among the shops and restaurants. (Photo by Valerie Biggerstaff)
I lived near Toco Hill shopping center where LaVista Road and N. Druid Hills Road meet for 5 years, until my family moved to a neighborhood in Chamblee neighborhood in 1963. When I was at Emory University in the late 1970s, Toco Hills was a nearby shopping and movie theater destination for students with a car. For a couple of years in the early 1980s, I worked at C & S Bank (today’s Bank of America) at Toco Hills. The bank was in the building that is now occupied by Chipotle. Today, I visit the ever changing shopping center occasionally and find that it has a lot to offer. The new outdoor spaces are popular with families.
An August 5, 1956 Atlanta Journal newspaper article announced, “Shop Center Being Built on LaVista.” W. C. (Clyde) Shepherd, developer of the center said it would be open in September of 1956. For half a million dollars, 30,000 square feet of retail space was planned, including 800 parking spaces on ten acres.
Among the early stores was “The Great A & P Tea Company", later just known as A & P Grocery Store, a drug store, hardware store, laundry and various specialty shops. The adjoining sidewalk included a canopy for weather protection for shoppers. This early article already mentions future expansion of Toco Hill.
Shepherd spent time in Brazil during World War II and he picked up the word Toco from that experience. It is believed the word had something to do with luck, but this has not been confirmed by Portuguese language experts. (Georgia Public Broadcasting, “All Things Considered,” Aug. 24, 2018)
Stores, as verified by newspaper ads in 1967 included Star Photo Film Processing, Toco Hill Record Center, and Cecil White and Son pianos. In 1975, Capitol TV had joined the shopping center according to newspaper ads.
A two page ad in the Oct. 20, 1983 DeKalb Extra section of Atlanta Constitution shows the following stores: Kroger, Henri’s Bakery, Health Unlimited Natural Foods, Coffee Plantation, Phildar, Shoes Unlimited, B. K.’s Greenhouse Restaurant, Cheshire Pet Supply and Emory Florist. The Storey’s Toco Hill Theater in October 1983 featured movies “Vacation” featuring Chevy Chase and “Staying Alive” starring John Travolta. Admission to the theater was 99 cents.
At cinematreasures.org, the theater history includes an opening of 1965 as a H. B. Meiselman Theater. The opening movie was “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” starring Kirk Douglas. The last theater owner was George LeFont of the LeFont movie theaters. The early theater is described as having a large screen and large seating area compared to other movie theaters of the time.
In 2000, Toco Hill was undergoing more changes. The shopping center’s current state is described with “…vacant stores, sagging facades and shop owner complaints about a lack of visibility and customers…” The theater was set for a remodel, Drug Emporium was closing, Publix was coming soon. “Alice in Wonderland” gift shop decided to exit at this time, with anticipated higher rents. The new owners were talking with Barnes & Noble, which is interesting since recent 2026 news of Toco Hill involves Barnes and Noble coming into the shopping center. (Atlanta Constitution, DeKalb Section, “End of an Era for Toco Hill,” Jan. 27, 2000)
The Tall Tales Book Shop, an independent bookstore, has been in Toco Hills since 1979, according to their Instagram account.
The 2000 shopping center had two owners. Petite Auberge Restaurant and Kroger were owned by Toco Properties. “Buildings to the southwest, such as Ace Hardware and the Toco Hill Theater…” were owned by Brandywine and Regent Properties and known (or tried to be known) as Toco Hill Promenade.”
Current owner EDENS describes the shopping center as Toco Hills on their website, edens.com. You may notice that in this article I used both Toco Hill and Toco Hills, but whenever the shopping center is my destination I’ll be saying, “Going to Toco Hills!”