New Café and Retail Spot The Press Opens in Downtown Moab

A building that once hummed with printing presses is now filling with the smell of coffee. The Press opened at 35 E. Center Street, the former longtime location of the Times-Independent, giving downtown Moab one of its most eclectic new addresses in recent memory.

Owner Rebecca McAllister purchased the property from the Taylor family, the former owners of the newspaper, and the name The Press is a homage to them. The Taylor family had owned the Times-Independent for over 100 years, after Loren "Bish" Taylor bought and combined the Grand Valley Times and The Independent in 1919. McAllister wasn't about to erase that legacy. Some equipment from the old pressroom was left in place, with McAllister asking the contractor to leave "little bits, little pieces of equipment up." "We wanted to keep elements of the Times as much as we could," she said.

The Press has been completely redone over the course of the past two years. The pivot to open it wasn't originally the plan. The idea to buy the building came to McAllister after she received bad news: her lease in the building that housed her business Arteesian would not be renewed.

Whether you want coffee or food, a piece of locally-produced art, a T-shirt or knitting supplies, or even an adult beverage to go with your meal, you can get it at The Press. Along with Arteesian, Mas Café, and Desert Thread, The Press also provides a venue for local artists. Mas Café will serve food that "fills a gap between what isn't here in Moab," according to McAllister. "It will be a little bit more grab and go."

The venue will also host small community events with Arteesian workshops and possibly cooking workshops, with art exhibits expected to be a major feature given the building's considerable wall space.

Mas Café runs from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Arteesian from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and Desert Thread is open Monday through Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m.

The March 19 opening date coincidentally also marked Moab Made's 10-year anniversary. For a building that spent more than a century chronicling Moab's story, its next chapter looks like it's just getting started.