Bad Business Names

tdn:

Why? Is there a better way to convey “Kosher Chinese”?

There was a liquor store awhile back called Satan’s Spirits. They had a card room in the back.

Yes, they had T-Shirts.

Yes, the shirts read “Liquor in the front; Poker in the rear”.

Well, there’s a place in Toronto called Ginzberg and Wong’s

And after you go there, you can get a massage at Sutherland-Chan. :slight_smile:

There used to be a T & A Cafe in downtown Boise, but I don’t think it’s there anymore. There is no listing for them in the online telephone directory, anyway.

Here in Vegas there’s a Hotel/Casino plus about 50 gas station called Terrible’s. I know a guy from out of town who always mistakes it for Horrible’s.

Could be part of an increasing trend in American English where the “direction” of adjectives is reversed. For example, I recently heard someone say that she was “gracious enough” to have a loving family and a nice house in a good neighborhood. Made my skin crawl, but language is fluid, American English especially.

As to the OP: How about the Auto Service Station, with a huge sign where the first letter of each word is big and red? Can’t remember whether I saw this in Clairemont (neighborhood of San Diego I hardly go to anymore), Bowie, MD or Norfolk, VA.

Though not in and of itself a terrible name, a number of businesses in Santee and El Cajon (San Diego suburbs) are called “Cottonwood”, and given the substantial white-power presence in the area I can’t help but think of Peckerwoods when I see it.

Having stayed there, I can assure you that its name is a proper warning.

For years there was a strip shopping center nearby that featured Linoleum Dick’s, a flooring contractor/retailer. The apostrophe was apparently stolen as soon as the sign went up, so it was just Linoleum Dicks.

At some point the shopping center was remodeled and a new sign put up. This one displayed “Dick’s Linoleum”. People complained, and they actually changed the sign back.

It’s gone now, and that stretch of Bascom Avenue just is not the same.

This is obviously one of those intentional corny ones, but there used to be a greengrocer opposite a cemetery in Southampton. The name of the shop was ‘The Melon Cauli’.

Also, there’s a Fish & Chip shop near me called ‘The Codfather’

And the other big manufacturer of concrete pumper trucks is Putzmeister, which is amusing in its own way.

Years ago in Hackensack, NJ, I drove past Abrasive Consultants, Inc. But they don’t hardly have anything on Blase Manufacturing, of Stratford, CT.

It probably wouldn’t be a good name for a lawn service anywhere else, but…several of the hockey players from our local SPHL team have decided to stay here in Columbus and work during the summer. They have started a company to do lawn maintainance. The name of the hockey team is the Columbus Cottonmouths, nicknamed the Snakes. They are calling their lawn service “Snakes in the Grass”.

I was in Seattle and noticed a Kinko’s-type chain. It was called “Sudden Printing.” I had the exact same reaction you did… “Suddenly, twenty reams of 20 weight paper fell on my crotch.”

Every South and Central Texan shops at H.E.B. It’s a lot better than its first name, the C.C. Butt Grocery Store.

For an interesting combination of cuisines, there’s a restaurant in Augusta, GA called Malley’s Bagels 'n Grits. The bagels are excellent, and the grits are fabulous! But I certainly was taken aback by the name the first time I saw it.

There’s also a chain of restaurants there with the annoying and cutesy name of Wifesaver. Har de har har.

The most unintentionally humorous business names are some I saw in Japan. The popular windsurfing equipment company, whose name is emblazoned (in English) on signs all over Kyushu? Break Wind. And for hilarity, nothing can beat the delivery company whose trucks bear, in English lettering three feet high, their name: Lapid Expless.

Justin Case Auto Repair. Not sure if it is a pun or the guys real name.

My favorite fish store in Miami was “Some Things Fishy.”

While often times it is brought up as a joke, there is a urologist in town named Dr. Cockburn. Evidently, there are several according to a Google search.

Pirhana Plumbing doesn’t really inspire me to call them. The thought of a school of pirhana living in my toilet scares the bejeebus out of me.

When I lived in Denver, I often drove past a bar called Liquor Box. :smiley:

We used to have a place near us called Chow’s Kosherama.

My favorite was a hole-in-the-wall Chinese place in NYC when i lived there briefly, it was called Soon-Fat, that got changed pretty quickly…

Here in town we have Butt Construction. Makes my wife laugh every time she sees it.

I’ve also seen some car dealers here with some unfortunate names… can’t bring any to mind at the moment though.

-d

There was a firm in Sydney, back in the 90s, called ANALGAS. I have no idea who or what they were, but they were in the telephone book.

Around the same time, there was a scrap metal mob called AUSSCRAP. C’mon, that second ‘S’ doesn’t help, guys.

-chinese restaurant in Cambrdge, MA : “PU-PU HOT POT”!
-funeral home in missouri : "Crummy " Funeral Home
-town in Oregon: “BORING” Oregon! I wonder what the town slogan is? -Have fun in Boring?