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Business Names with no meaning

JamesLam

New Member
At least we are not talking about the cruel and naive parents that go out of their way to change traditional spelling or make up never before heard of names for their kids.

You know a kid named Quene (Kenny) or Yensid (Disney spelled backwards) is going to suffer trauma throughout his/her/their/it's life.
 

Stacey K

I like making signs
Heh, that's nothing. Let's take ONE main product and see how many retail establishment names we can come up with. It's literally a marketer's dream.

These are all within a 20 mile radius south and west of my shop. And there are probably two dozen different names in the other directions...that I don't know about.

Can you guess ....?

JB

I'll give it a shot! This is fun!

Sky Mint - A specialty cookie shop?
Exclusive - men's clothing?
Joyology - Candles, aromatherapy?
Pinnacle Emporium - indoor golf range?
GTR - they make dirt track chasis?
The Dude Abides - Men's clothing with a Mexican flair?
Live Wire - Electronic Store where they install big sub woofers, cool lights and security systems?
Lume - deoderant - I see the commercials so thsi one doens't count.
Sapura - Hair Salon and Spa?
Nirvana Center - Heroin Addition Center? - Ha ha, I love Nirvana
The Tree House - An indoor play area for kids?
Consume - A restaurant that serves organic foods, local farm raised beef?
Dr. A's Re-Leaf Center - Foot pain and shoe store?
Aim High - Archery Range?
The Nest - A tavern that has a dark feel to it. There's a lot of wood and they serve food with small portions and charge a lot?
Stoned Goat - Tavern with all the towns drunks?
3Fifteen - A clothing store for teenage girls?
Dispo - Definately a pot selling place!

What do I get if I win? LOL
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
T
I'll give it a shot! This is fun!

Sky Mint - A specialty cookie shop?
Exclusive - men's clothing?
Joyology - Candles, aromatherapy?
Pinnacle Emporium - indoor golf range?
GTR - they make dirt track chasis?
The Dude Abides - Men's clothing with a Mexican flair?
Live Wire - Electronic Store where they install big sub woofers, cool lights and security systems?
Lume - deoderant - I see the commercials so thsi one doens't count.
Sapura - Hair Salon and Spa?
Nirvana Center - Heroin Addition Center? - Ha ha, I love Nirvana
The Tree House - An indoor play area for kids?
Consume - A restaurant that serves organic foods, local farm raised beef?
Dr. A's Re-Leaf Center - Foot pain and shoe store?
Aim High - Archery Range?
The Nest - A tavern that has a dark feel to it. There's a lot of wood and they serve food with small portions and charge a lot?
Stoned Goat - Tavern with all the towns drunks?
3Fifteen - A clothing store for teenage girls?
Dispo - Definately a pot selling place!

What do I get if I win? LOL
They are ALL pot store names.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
I like to think of it as not being part of their target demographic. Makes me feel better about not buying their stuff.
Here in Michigan, it's literally been a bloodbath of competition...so much so that the average per-ounce retail price of MJ has fallen as much as 75%.

The only way to capture any market here is through "differentiation".

Using my examples above, The Dude Abides would be considered your "Monday Night Football/Bud Light" market.

Lume and GTR (Green Tree Relief) appear to have very deep pockets and awe-inspiring architecture. They primarily cater to the wine-sipping / expensive whisky ambiance-seeker. These guys are like T. Rowe Price courting the golf aficionados during the Masters.

I'm only ten miles from the Ohio and Indiana borders. Several of our sleepy little ghost towns have seen more economic growth in the past two years than they have for the last one-hundred. And driving down main street in each one of those little bergs, you'll see license plates from no less than a half-dozen different states. Yep, they're that busy...but only until those states become legal.

When it all shakes down, there will be a lot of losers. But in the end, we'll most likely see a better defined "pot-version" of Wendy's, Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris.


JB
 

Stacey K

I like making signs
Two company names I STRUGGLE to get out of my mouth...Ruth's Chris and 3/5th Bank. Drive me nutty.

Makes sense about what you are saying and the pot industry. I always said if it becomes legal in Wisconsin I'm planting the 80 acres with it LOL The good thing about having all these businesses pop up, even if they don't make it is that they all need signage LOL
 

unclebun

Active Member
Name disassociation from the business is nothing new
* Arby's = Fast Food
* HEB = Groceries
* Chevrolet = Vehicle
* Etsy = E-Commerce Crafting
* Nike = Shoes
* 3M = Vinyl

What I am seeing is it so easy now to "start" a business that there is no brand association / identification before the name is seen on a wide scale
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, IG, Etc... all allow you to get "noticed" without knowing what you are seeing or why you are seeing it

Yes, designs now are focussed on the POP, LOUD, LOTS OF COLORS vs easy to read and direct information (KISS)

Arby is a homophone of RB, which stands for roast beef.
H-E-B is the initials of the namesake of the grocery chain founded by his mother. Howard E. Butt
Chevrolet is the surname of its founder, Louis Chevrolet. It is short for the Chevrolet Motor Division of GM, originally the Chevrolet Motor Car Company
Etsy I got nothing for
Nike is the winged goddess of victory. There is definitely an association to the product, winning running shoes.
3M is Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
Some cities have strange names, especially in PA... You could have Intercourse Signs
I'd like to have been a fly on the wall at the planning meeting when they were considering names. I assume the nick name is...well, you know.

JB
 

DL Signs

Never go against the family
Many years ago, when I was playing in bands at night after working at the sign shop all day, we had a band called 'FUGGET'. Some places wouldn't use our name in the newspaper, they just said...... that new black band.
One of our local bands was named "Sofa King What".... They didn't get much in the way of media attention either, and didn't last long.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
And, it you were a teen in the 80s, how can you forget this one from April Wine?

Ok, so she could use definitely some help with her technique, but the song is rather amusing.

 

rossmosh

New Member
Generally speaking the way it works is a brand name may not associate with what the company is or does, but the logo has iconography and/or a tagline to accompany it. These icons and taglines are often dropped as brands become more and more recognized.

The problem is, small companies don't understand that it takes 30-40 years of success to be able to make this transition typically.
 
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