New eatery The Mercantile seeks to honor historic 25th Street building’s history
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- The building that once housed the Union Bus Depot at 2501 Grant Ave. will soon be home to The Mercantile.
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- A bench from the old Union Bus Station has been restored for use at The Mercantile, which now resides in the building at 2501 Grant Ave.
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- A picture of The Mercantile bus bench before it underwent a restoration.
OGDEN — The building at 2501 Grant Ave. has housed a veritable bonanza of operations throughout its history. In recent years, it has been the Mexican restaurant Sabores De Mexico and, before that, Berlin’s Delicatessen. When the building first opened on Nov. 28, 1940, though, it was the Union Bus Depot; and it later became a Greyhound station.
In other words, a place where people made memories as they traveled throughout the region.
Soon, the space will be home to The Mercantile — a new cafe from the people behind local favorites like Kaffe Mercantile, Roosters Brewing Co. and Beehive Cheese — and it’s their hope that the establishment can honor those memories while patrons make new ones of their own.
“People say, ‘I used to wait for my dad to come home from work at that bus station,’ or ‘My brother was deployed to Vietnam; I waited there, we said goodbye at that bus station.’ There have been incredibly meaningful stories shared with us,” Kim Bowsher, a partner in The Mercantile, told the Standard-Examiner.
“We really owe it to this building and this space to be good stewards of those stories.”
To that end, a piece of the building’s history was recently placed in the care of the fledgling business — a bench from the old bus station.
The bench had been saved from the building amid one of its myriad remodels, eventually finding its way to a golf shop on 24th Street. When that shop closed down two decades ago, the bench was purchased by local couple Russ and Sandy Sellers.
“The building was being sold and they were cleaning it out and (the bench) was on its way to the dump, really, and I was just like, ‘This can’t go to the dump,'” Russ Sellers told the Standard-Examiner.
The Sellerses understood the bench’s significance and had a desire to see it restored and recognized in some way. That opportunity eventually presented itself with The Mercantile.
Since coming into possession of the bench, Bowsher and her partners have cleaned it up and replaced its tattered, salmon-colored upholstery with a sharp, jade material. Now, the bench occupies a prominent spot in the cafe, which is slated to open in the very near future.
“We’re super close,” Bowsher said of the construction process. “We’ll be getting ready to post about our opening timeline soon.”
Community members will be invited to take part in what has been dubbed the Green Bench Listening Series, giving them an outlet to share personal stories about the location and the city of Ogden at large. Bowsher advised residents to follow The Mercantile’s social media channels for public invites and time options.
The Mercantile’s owners are exploring other methods of spotlighting the building’s history, too.
A cornerstone inscription dating back to the depot’s grand opening is accessible by removing a wood panel on the wall. There are hopes of putting it on display for people who visit and dine at the cafe.
Meanwhile, when The Mercantile finally opens, patrons can expect a culinary experience that’s both new and familiar at the same time.
“The menu acknowledges a lot of the Kaffe Mercantile classics,” Bowsher said. “But it’s definitely a deeper menu. There are shared plates, snackable items, beer and wine features and pairing suggestions. There will be more lunch to dinner options.”