Salt Lake company to move to Murray after 119 years; building to be demolished

SALT LAKE CITY A fifth-generation family-owned clothing store that has been a Salt Lake City staple for more than a century is moving to a new location in the Salt Lake Valley after its downtown store was deemed too damaged by a 2020 earthquake to be repaired and will be demolished.

After weeks of privately notifying customers of the impending move, UWM Men's Shop, formerly known as Utah Woolen Mills, officially announced plans to relocate this week. Signs announcing a “closing sale” are now posted in the windows of its location at 59 W. South Temple.

UWM plans to open a new store at the corner of 6100 South and State State in Murray, near Fashion Place Mall, which will open May 6, while its old location is phased out in the coming weeks. A farewell party is planned for May 2 to celebrate the company, according to BJ Stringham, the company's president.

“This is a very big step for us,” he said. “We want to close this chapter with high hopes for the future and we are excited about the future.”

Property Reserve Inc., owner of the eight-story building, told KSL.com that the property between City Creek Center and Temple Square will be demolished later this year due to its seismic risks.

Father and son Henry and Briant Stringham founded Utah Woolen Mills in 1905, offering wool goods and men's clothing from a base in downtown Salt Lake City. The business has remained in the family and on the same block ever since, moving to its current location in the late '70s as construction of Crossroads Plaza consumed the original building.

The second location was spared when construction on City Creek Center began in the 2000s, as crews gathered around the store to complete the mall more than a decade ago.

Construction was just a challenge along the way. In a public letter regarding the impending move, the Stringham family highlighted “countless ups and downs” over the past 119 years. The family business has weathered two global pandemics, two world wars, the Great Depression and multiple recessions. Stringham said the company has seen some of its best sales years since 2022.

However, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake that shook the Salt Lake Valley in 2020 proved to be the biggest obstacle, at least in terms of the company's stay in Salt Lake City. A structural engineering company inspected the building and identified “seismic hazards” after the earthquake, according to Dale Bills, a spokesperson for Property Reserve.

In a statement to KSL.com, Bills explained that the necessary repairs and seismic upgrades were deemed “cost-prohibitive,” so the company decided to demolish the building. At the time this decision was made, UWM was the property's last remaining tenant, with Deseret Book, the building's primary tenant, having moved out in 2019.

It appears to be the second building to be demolished due to the earthquake. State historians noted that the Sears House, a historic home in the Liberty Wells neighborhood of Salt Lake City, was the only historic building badly damaged enough to be demolished after the earthquake.

While the Stringham family said they hoped to continue operating their business downtown, negotiations resulted in an agreement that the business would vacate its premises by July. They are now looking forward to a new home for the first time in over 45 years.

“I know this sounds trite, but it’s not you, it’s us,” the family wrote in their public letter to Salt Lake City. “We must be true to ourselves and move to where we are the captains of our destiny. We move to where we own our property and can truly have control of our future, as we did when our great-great -grandfather and his son got involved in this matter.”

Murray's new location has some advantages and disadvantages, says BJ Stringham. It has about the same floor room size as the downtown location, better parking, and it's located next to another major Salt Lake Valley shopping center, but it doesn't have the same amount of storage space.

That's why UWM Men's Shop is currently holding a series of clearance sales downtown because they can't bring everything into the new store. All items are currently listed at 50% off, but the sale will go up to 90% off for all remaining items after May 13. Stringham said the business may end up donating items if there is anything left after the store officially closes.

Demolition of the Salt Lake City building is expected to begin later this year. Bills said the timeline is based on “the timeline of other major downtown construction already underway,” such as work underway to renovate Temple Square across the street.

Stringham said his family hopes to create another century of memories in Murray as they look to make the best of the situation.

“I’m proud of the legacy we have and the legacy we continue to build,” he said. “I think a bigger marker of our legacy is how we deal with adversity and I hope to be proud of that too.”