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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Another ZCMI To Get Name Change
Salt Lake Tribune 19Feb00 B3
By Phil Sahm: Salt Lake Tribune
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- With the demise of the ZCMI name in the next
couple of years, will probably come the name change for the downtown
Salt Lake City shopping mall named for it also. ZCMI Center will hire
a consultant to help it decide whether or not it should change its
hame, and if it should, what the new name should be.
The mall is owned by Zions Securities Corp., one of the for-profit
businesses owned by the LDS Church, which also owned ZCMI before its
sale last year to May Co.'s Meier &Frank division. But Zions
Securities isn't in any hurry to make a change, according to
spokesman Doug Buchi, "Unless we can come up with an absolute
home-run name change . . . we are not hurt at all by the current
name,"
The 14 ZCMI stores will have their names changed to Meier &Frank
within the next two years, under the sale agreement. The company can
use the name ZCMI for that time as long as the stores do not open on
Sundays. After two years rights to the name revert to the LDS Church.
Because the name of the mall sometimes caused confusion in the past
(tourists sometimes thought ZCMI owned the mall), the mall management
sought to change its name several years ago, however LDS Church
officials nixed the idea. Now some merchants have mixed feelings
about a name change. Paul Young of Florsheim Shoes Shop in the mall
felt that in the past the name led to confusion. "You kind of lose
your [store] identity," said Young. But with ZCMI's name changing,
Young reflected that loosing the old name might be sad.
While Buchi says that the consultant hasn't been hired yet, the job
will go to Thomas Consultants of Vancouver, British Columbia. That
firm recently assisted Salt Lake's Downtown Alliance to revitalize
the shopping district. Buchi also indicated that the consultant will
look at more than just changing the mall's name, "We'll assess
whether we should continue to do the same thing, or if we should look
at repositioning the mall by going after a different type of tenant,"
he said.
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