On This Day in 1868: 1st US Department Store ZCMI Opens

October 16, 1868: On this day, America's first full-line department store, ZCMI (Zion's Co-Operative Mercantile Institution) opened. It was founded under the direction of Brigham Young and the LDS (Mormon) Church. 

In 1868, Brigham Young and other church leaders urged their members to cooperate economically. LDS businessmen from around the territory soon got together in Salt Lake City to organize a wholesale cooperative store and this is when Young was elected president of ZCMI.

ZCMI was sold to the May Department Stores Company in December, 1999. It was operated as a division of May's Meier & Frank division until 2002, when the stores were re-branded as Meier & Frank.