Over the past month or so, there has been construction just south of the mall I work near. Early last week, they complete construction, and a bright, colorful banner was draped on the facade.
Somehow or other (probably due to the abnormally large amount of stress I’ve been under this week), I managed to completely miss it until Thursday night. I’m lucky I didn’t hit anybody. I was laughing pretty hard.
This new business, a company that specializes in imported furniture, is called “Far-Fetched Imports”!
We normally think of far-fetched as being something that is just outlandish, but in this case it really works with that alternate meaning. The inventory was fetched from afar. I couldn’t have been more amused!
Edit (May 2009): Last night, I drove past Far-Fetched Imports and saw a “Going out of business” sign.
Now that I’m finally getting out and about again, I am able to find great business names!
Take, for example, my newest find- Framer vs. Framer, a little framing business just off 405 in the Totem Lake/Kirkland/Kenmore area. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was worthy of being shared in my list of great business names!
If you see any business names that just click for you, feel free to share them. I think those who come up with clever names need to be advertised!
I still owe the actual post for yesterday, but i think I’ll be forgiven. I woke up very sick with sinus junk yesterday, worked all day at a local preschool (with the right side of my head feeling like it was about to explode), and then left work to drive down to Portland for the weekend. My day was completely full.
On what felt like an endless drive (it took five hours to get from Bellevue to Portland last night), I was listening to the radio trying to find out why traffic was so goofy. This ad came on for a jersey business, and the name made me spend half my trip chanting it over and over to stick it in my brain so I could blog about it.
The company’s name (I hope I’m spelling this correctly) is Exper-Tees. They’re located in Auburn, and they apparently make sports jerseys. How fabulous is that! It describes what the business’ self-described niche in the community is, and it’s a nice play on words.
Some of you may remember that I collect interesting business names, something I haven’t been able to work on lately due to the demands on my time and energy. Apparently, I’m not the only one who likes to engage in this past time. The lovely folks over at MYOB have compiled a list of business names that have successfully accomplished their intended goals. I’m rather fond of My Family’s Nuts, but I suspect that’s just because it reminds me of home.
Today’s exploration in choosing names comes from recent conversations I’ve had about excellent hamburger joints in San Antonio. My mother is on a quest to find the best burger in the area, and she is leaving no stone unturned.
As we were discussing various places she has tried and places that are on her list, she brought up a restaurant that closed last year that was named “Uncle Tio’s”. Now, if you have any Spanish training (and growing up in South Texas, it’s really hard not to have learned any), you’ll notice this translates to “Uncle Uncle’s”. Apparently, this place didn’t last long, and it’s easy to see where someone who was borderline bilingual might have scoffed this place on account of the poor name.
This goes hand in hand with another name I saw in a piece of writing while I was editing that was changed on my recommendation when I explained that the name, “Grandfather Abuelo”, was redundant.
As usual, I concede that being cute can go a long way to help keep your business memorable. However, this is yet another case where being cute was a bit uncalled for and ultimately led to the business closing. When chosing a name, always remember to not alienate part of your potential customer base.
During my excursions in Minnesota, I saw a truck with a company name that must be shared! It belonged to a plumbing company named Veit and Co. I’m not actually sure how that name is pronounced, but my brain interpreted it as “Wait” which made it a very funny name for a plumbing company.
I am noticing that people are finding this category of this blog. Please, if you’re enoying the names you see here, feel free to email me and share ones you come across in your journeys. I’ll post them here and credit them to you!
The author of this blog is off on a summer adventure, but will return to a more active blogging practice in September.
Seen driving from Seattle to Portland last month: the Failing Pedestrian Bridge. Well, I know I feel safe crossing a major highway on that!
Oh, and the consignment store that I pointed out would have a name change issue on its hands? Today, I noticed a big sign in front of the store’s sign advertising a sale. The name had been shortened to, “Oops!” To quote a John Mahoney character, “There’s never an egg timer around when you need it.”
Again, if you see any great names while I’m off exploring the wilds of Minnesota, feel free to either comment or email me with them. I’ll process them and share them in September.
I’m on vacation this week in Seattle, Washington. In two days, I’ve managed to see most of the city by driving (or by being driven, as the case has been). If you have never been to Seattle, I’d highly recommend it. After two days, I’m starting to think about researching Washington’s laws for starting a small business and researching how grassroots business launches fare here.
Anyway, on today’s tour, I saw two businesses that deserved to be added to the name collection. The first is a consignment shop not too terribly far from Juanita Beach named “Fashion Cents”. I like it. It manages in two words to capture the charm and allure of a consignment store.
The second is a nice play on words. It’s a tire store right off one of the highways named “Pacific Rim Center”. The joke here is the reference to both a tire rim and the Pacific Rim, which Seattle is located on.
Thumbs up to both clever business owners!
