For several years prior to his death in 1896, Lyman had been purchasing real estate along Meridian and Washington streets in Indianapolis, where he intended to build a new store at the intersection of these two prominent downtown streets. Designed by the Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut and Bohn, the new eight-story flagship store opened in 1905. The landmark store at One West Washington Street was enlarged several times. The store's first major expansion was completed in 1915 and doubled the store's size and its frontage along Washington Street. Beginning in the 1920s the company acquired property along Meridian Street, south of its main store, and opened the South Building in September 1929. After World War II, an eleven-story addition to the flagship store completed along Meridian Street, adjacent to the South Building. In the 1950s, downtown Indianapolis began to deteriorate as businesses moved outside the city center; however, Ayres continued to buy real estate adjacent to its downtown store. The company bought several old buildings near its flagship store, tore them down, created surface parking on the vacant lots, and later built two parking garages to entice suburban shoppers to drive downtown and park near its store.