The ZCMI Co-op Building served as an official outlet of ZCMI, Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution, known as "America's First Department Store." From about the 1890s to 1986, the building housed the Fayette Merc. Until 1960, it was part of the ZCMI co-operative system, which began in 1868 and provided retail goods and services to more than 150 communities across the Intermountain area.