May to Buy ZCMI Department Store Chain

May Department Stores Co. has agreed to buy a 14-store chain founded by the Mormon church 132 years ago. The $52-million stock deal with ZCMI--formerly Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institution--gives May a foothold in Utah and Idaho, two states where it had little presence. ZCMI will keep its name during a transitional period but eventually will change its name to Meier & Frank, a May property with eight stores in Oregon and Washington. Under the terms of the agreement, ZCMI’s downtown Salt Lake City store will remain closed on Sundays in accordance with Mormon tenets. ZCMI’s 13 other stores, 11 in Utah and two in Idaho, also will remain closed on Sundays until they become Meier & Frank stores. That’s expected to occur in the next two years, ZCMI said. ZCMI has annual sales of about $238 million.