L. S. Ayres and Company was a department store based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and founded in 1872 by Lyman S. Ayres. Over the years its Indianapolis flagship store, which opened in 1905 and was later enlarged, became known for its women's fashions, the Tea Room, holiday events and displays, and the basement budget store. As urban populations shifted to the suburbs, Ayres established branch stores in new shopping centers in several Indiana cities. Ayres also acquired retail subsidiaries in Springfield, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Louisville, Kentucky. Ayr-Way, the Ayres discount store subsidiary, became the first discount store launched by a full-line department store. By the end of the 1960s Ayres had become a diversified merchandising business with retail department stores, a chain of discount stores, specialty clothing stores, a home furnishings showroom, and a real estate holding company. A long-time Ayres slogan, "That Ayres Look", promoted the company as a fashion leader, and by 1972 it had become the oldest continuous retail slogan in the United States. Associated Dry Goods acquired Ayres in 1972. After The May Company acquired Associated Dry Goods in 1986, several Ayres stores were closed. The flagship store in Indianapolis was closed in the spring of 1992 as the remaining Ayres operation merged with May's Famous-Barr division. Federated Department Stores, owner of rival Macy's, acquired The May Company on August 30, 2005. On February 1, 2006, L. S. Ayres was dissolved and folded into the newly formed Macy's Midwest division. On September 9, 2006, the L. S. Ayres name was retired as most stores were converted to Macy's. History Origins in Indianapolis Lyman S. Ayres, who owned a dry-goods store in Geneva, New York, founded a new firm in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1872, the year in which he bought controlling interest in N. R. Smith and Company, a dry-goods store that was also known as the Trade Palace. The store was located at 26–28 West Washington Street in Indianapolis. The new store, renamed N. R. Smith and Ayres, opened in January 1872. Ayres bought out Smith's interest in the store in 1874. The name "L. S. Ayres & Co." appeared in February 1874 in an Indianapolis newspaper advertisement. In 1875, Ayres relocated the store across the street to 33–37 West Washington Street, where it remained for thirty years as L. S. Ayres and Company. The store called itself a "First Class One Price Establishment" and