# Bad Business Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609 "2007-05-03T14:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/1 "2007-05-03T14:04:08Z")
I recently saw one of those work trucks with the name of the business on the side. The business name was **Jericho Foundation Repair**. Why would a foundation repair business, of all things, name itself after a city that is best known for having its walls fall down? Also, in Houston, the main power company is called **Reliant Energy**. The definition of “reliant” is having or showing dependence. In other words, NOT dependable in and of itself! Anybody have any other examples of questionable names for businesses? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/2 "2007-05-03T14:11:39Z")
Ah, the _walls_ came a-tumbling down, but the foundations were fine! Anyway, I saw a shop in Nice (France) called ‘Fanny Pressing’ - I think it was a laundry service. I _hope_ it was, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/3 "2007-05-03T14:11:44Z")
Karson Kartage and Konstruction I swear I’m not making this up. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/4 "2007-05-03T14:16:04Z")
Some names that amaze me: 1.) **Fluke** Power Supplies. I always imagine them having as a slogan “If it works, it’s a Fluke!” 2.) **Gibbs Energy** – a heating oil company here in Massachusetts. After my thermo course, it seems to me their product ought to be Free. 3.) I just saw this one on a truck in front of me yesterday – **Kevin Klein Plumbing**. I know the actor spells it “Kline”, but all I could think was that he must be branching out. 4.) **Gorny Gorny Mortuaries** – Near Elizabeth, N.J. I always passed this when I rode the bus up the Turnpike to New York. It’s a big yellow sign with a clock between the two Gornys. If your family name is Gorn, wouldn’t one Gorny be sufficient? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/5 "2007-05-03T14:19:53Z")
In my hometown in Maryland: **Devol Funeral Home**. For those who are none too optimistic about their loved ones’ eternal destination. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/6 "2007-05-03T14:23:18Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] 3.) I just saw this one on a truck in front of me yesterday – **Kevin Klein Plumbing**. I know the actor spells it “Kline”, but all I could think was that he must be branching out. [/QUOTE] Klein, you say? I wonder if their pipes are designed around the same principle as their [bottles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_bottle). ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/7 "2007-05-03T14:25:31Z")
**Pansiewood Implement** (as in farm equipment) With a little yellow daisy on the sign and everything. **Short Electric** ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/8 "2007-05-03T14:33:40Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Some names that amaze me: 1.) **Fluke** Power Supplies. I always imagine them having as a slogan “If it works, it’s a Fluke!” [/QUOTE] It’s not power supplies, but this is almost exactly the slogan for the Ontario logistics company [Fluke Transportation Group](http://www.fluke.ca/). The slogan isn’t shown on their website, but their trucks bear the slogan: “If it’s on time, it’s a Fluke!” ETA: Here’s an [article](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050629.wfoxcroft-bestmistake29/BNStory/) that shows the slogan. There is (or was, when I was a kid) a local plumber near where I used to live named “‘Leaky’ Lyman Plumbing”. Not precisely the sort of name that inspires confidence. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/9 "2007-05-03T14:36:26Z")
I still find it hard to believe that someone would name a women’s clothing store **Dress Barn**. Even stranger, it’s apparently been around since 1962 and seems to be doing well. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/10 "2007-05-03T14:37:31Z")
I just came across a company called **Davis Erection**. They supply cranes to construction companies, but it didn’t stop the 12 year old in me from giggling. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/11 "2007-05-03T15:08:50Z")
My cable company just changed its name to “SuddenLink”. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I associate “sudden” things with unexpected and unpleasant things. As in, “Suddenly, the wolves sprang, rending Hubert limb from limb,” or, “I was minding my own business, when suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and I noticed my intestines were not where I normally keep them.” I don’t want “sudden” cable service. Cheap, reliable, yes, but not “sudden”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/12 "2007-05-03T15:16:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I just came across a company called Davis Erection. They supply cranes to construction companies, but it didn’t stop the 12 year old in me from giggling. Here in Boston we’ve got **Shaughnessy’s Erection**. Pepper Mill saw them ages ago when she first visited Boston (long before she met me), and had a T-shirt made up that read “Do You Remember Shaughnessy’s Erection?” A few years ago we passed a construction yard that had a whole row of their cranes lined up at a angle that suggested full arousal, and she had to get a picture. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/13 "2007-05-03T15:28:09Z")
You haven’t laughed until the first time you see one of [these guys’](http://www.schwing.com/) telescoping concrete pumps standing at a 45 degree angle, 25 feet in the air. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/14 "2007-05-03T15:37:27Z")
S & M Auto Repair. Always makes me wonder… ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/15 "2007-05-03T15:58:16Z")
[QUOTE=Terrorcotta] S & M Auto Repair. Always makes me wonder… [/QUOTE] I still have boxes in my office from the company’s relocation last year, courtesy of **S&M Moving Systems**. And yes, the move was painful. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/16 "2007-05-03T16:12:06Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] I still have boxes in my office from the company’s relocation last year, courtesy of **S&M Moving Systems**. And yes, the move was painful. [/QUOTE] But you loved it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/17 "2007-05-03T16:14:03Z")
Not a business name, but a bad slogan - U-Haul’s “Adventures in Moving.” The absolute LAST thing I want when driving an underpowered, battered rental truck crammed with all my worldly possessions is an adventure! A local plumber with an iffy sense of hygiene is [Smelly Mel’s](http://www.smellymels.com/) (nice phallus there…) ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/18 "2007-05-03T16:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Here in Boston we’ve got **Shaughnessy’s Erection**. [/QUOTE] I really do not wish to think of Dan Shaughnessy that way. Ew. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/19 "2007-05-03T16:57:37Z")
Bwahahaha – just the other day, my husband and I noticed a **B&M Plumbing**. I found it hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609/20 "2007-05-03T17:00:09Z")
> [@](#): > > I still have boxes in my office from the company’s relocation last year, courtesy of S&M Moving Systems. > > And yes, the move was painful. There’s an **S & M Liquors** not far from me. And I’ve seen a picture of a ticket stub from **S & M Amusements**. Once upon a time you could say “S & M” and only a select few would see the sexual connotations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-business-names/402609.md?page=2)