ZCMI (Zions Cooperative Mercantile Association) was formed in 1868. By 1880, 156 branch stores reached into twenty-four counties and 126 towns and cities.

In 1875, a committee chose this site for the Salt Lake City branch of the store. The land was purchased from Brigham Young for $30,000.00. The building, reputed to be the first department store in America, opened for business in 1876. The cost was $136,544. The architects were William H. Folsom and Obed Taylor. The structure is significant because of its unusually well-maintained historic store front of cast iron.

In 2007, the ZCMI cast iron facade was disassembled and stored prior to demolition and excavation for a new twenty acre commercial and residential development, City Creek Center, which was financed by the LDS Church to protect the southern flank of Temple Square from undesirable neighbors. See Church News: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The cast iron front has now been reassembled as the facade for a new Macy's scheduled to open in 2012.