A Brief History
Located at 22 W. Main Street (State highway 132), the 2-story structure built around 1900 has a great history. It was originally Consolidated Mercantile, part of the original Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution, purveyor of general merchandise. In 1925 it became the Moroni Mercantile hardware store and remained a ZCMI co-op participant until 1932. In September 1994, ZCMI’s Vice President presented a historical marker and the ZCMI logo "all seeing eye" to the building’s owner, Diana Gibbons, commemorating the buildings early participation in the cooperative.
Since 1932 the building has housed meat packing and storage lockers, the U.S. Post Office, a leather shop, and many other businesses. Diana purchased the building in 1988 and opened a general merchandise store in 1989. In recent years the building has been vacant. This unique structures’ architecture has won recognition in many historical publications including Utah’s Historic Architecture, 1847-1940, by Thomas Carter & Peter Goss.
Recent Renovations
Maintaining the historical integrity of the building is important. Restoration plans are in the works for the signage on the side of the building so the original ZCMI logo and "Mountaineer Overalls" signs can again be seen.
In 2003 improvements were completed to the formerly unused second floor, which Diana now calls her "Manhattan Condo". The 1,110 sq ft. area has been transformed from a dark, dirty, neglected room with an oil, paint and tar stained floor, to a fabulous comfortable eclectically decorated studio living space. The original stained glass leaded windows encased in the carved wood moldings, offer a striking accent to the room.
A Place for Family
The staff at the Next Chapter are being trained to extend to shoppers the best in customer service which includes assisting with decorating ideas for the home. "We want everyone to feel like family when they are here and not only enjoy the shopping experience, but really have fun. If we don’t have something our visitors really want to see, we will try to get it. The intent is to do all we can to make everyone feel welcome, comfortable, and most importantly – that we care about them. We want the shopping experience to be memorable and fun."