To all the twists, turns and oddities in the long and changeable history of Salt Lake City's Main Street, you may now add this:
The newest business on Main Street is also the oldest business on Main Street.
I discovered this bit of trivia last Wednesday afternoon when I walked into the splendid new digs of Bennion Jewelers at the northeast corner of Main and 100 South.
Owner Bill Bennion stood in the middle of the spacious 4,200-square-foot store looking like a kid who walked into the living room on Christmas morning and found a pony and a new bike.
"I'm not just happy to be here; I'm thrilled," said Bennion.
For the past 34 years, since joining the family business in 1974 after a brief fling as a professional tennis player, Bill had gotten used to the relative darkness of Bennion's old 2,100-square-foot quarters on the ground floor of a five-story building just south of the ZCMI Center at 59 S. Main.
Now, with bright sunlight streaming in through the beautiful two-story high windows at his new front entrance at 107 S. Main, he needed dark glasses.
"This has to be the greatest-looking jewelry store in the West," he said. "I've had more business in the first four hours than I'd get in two days at the old place."
Bennion was quick to give credit to Zions Securities and Property Reserve Inc., the LDS Church real estate management arm that is at the apex of a massive downtown remodeling project. They wanted to tear down the building where Bennion was previously located and approached Bill, who had 3 1/2 years left on his lease, about moving half-a-block down the street.
"It was a win-win," he said. "The win for them is they can knock down the building early; the win for us is we'll be here for at least 20 more years. And the way I look at it, why not work together? We're all in this for the long haul."
For Bennion Jewelers, that's not just talk. Few businesses in the entire state of Utah have their kind of staying power.
The roots of their jewelry business date back to 1862 — a time barely 15 years after the first permanent settlers moved into the Salt Lake Valley, and it was the Civil War, not the Iraqi war, that was touch-and-go.
The original store was known as the Boyd Park Jewelry Co. when it opened its doors at 166 S. Main in what is now the Wells Fargo Building. In the late 1800s, Park City miners would bring their ore straight to Main Street for refining. You could say Boyd Park got its gold direct from the factory.
In 1952, the Boyd Park Co., after 90 years in business, was bought by Dick Bennion, Bill's father, who
renamed the company Bennion's Boyd Park Jewelry.
When the business relocated next door to the ZCMI Center in 1974, it became Dick Bennion Jewelry.
When Dick retired in 1990 and Bill took over the operation, the name changed to Bennion Jewelers.
As amazing as the longevity is the fact that through all the changes, the same fixtures have survived every move.
The mahogany wall units with their 500-pound pulley systems, the luxurious jewelry cases and the wood-paneled interior office with curved etched windows all date back to 1862.
The Regulator grandfather clock with "Boyd Park Jewelers" stenciled on the front that greets shoppers at the store's entrance and still keeps perfect time dates back even earlier.
Bennion's is a jewelry store where the fixtures just might be more valuable than the gems.
"And to think, we're all still here," said a beaming Bill Bennion after the first morning in the new building.
For emphasis, he knocked on 144-year-old wood that is the newest part of Main Street.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.