While Utah came to the U.S. of A. party a little later than some, there are some Salt Lake businesses that even pre-date Utah statehood. So while a 100-year-old business might seem like a startup to our friends across the pond, Salt Lake is home to plenty of local institutions that have stood the test of time.
Did you know Utah’s climate is ideal for making hard candies? The dry climate and cool winter temperatures brought British immigrant William Daw Startup and family to Utah and 158 years later, the Utah territory’s first candy shop is still selling confections today. You can buy their signature lollipops at locations across the Wasatch Front, online, or directly from the factory in Springville.
You may have seen the jokes online that Sterling Furniture Company is the latest Fun Time Kidz Kare, a place everyone seems to know but no one has actually been … or is ever seen coming or going. Sorry to ruin the fun, but it does seem to just be a furniture store. But not just any furniture store: one of the last bastions of Sugar House’s Furniture Row. The family-owned business started as a furniture making company in 1875. After several locations along the Wasatch Front, the iconic blue-awninged building opened its doors in 1941. The company’s longevity also isn’t hurt by the fact that the family owns and manages surrounding properties that house other small businesses and apartments. It may not sell the trendiest furniture but you will find quality, made-in-America pieces for a decent price. And you don’t have to put it together yourself.
A Sugar House business almost as old as the modern bicycle itself, Guthrie Bicycle is one of, if not THE, oldest bicycle shops in the country. The shop started in 1888 by two brothers, just a couple years after the modern “safety bike” you and I would recognize as a bicycle, was invented. The business changed hands several times in the proceeding years but has been owned by the same family for the last 50 years. Guthrie Bicycle sells new bikes for all ages and terrains, as well as offers repair and fitting services, and all the accessories for your hobby.
I’ll be the first to admit that my knowledge of menswear begins and ends at the feed of writer Derek Guy. But UWM Men’s Shop, formerly Utah Woolen Mills, has been meeting the suiting and tailoring needs of Utahns since 1905. The business has remained in the family that whole time, even as the focus shifted from textiles to high-quality menswear. 2020 was not the year for any of us, and the earthquake left the building on South Temple unsafe. After 119 years on the same block, the storefront recently reopened in Murray.
