# Misleading Business names (that you've encountered in your travels) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974 "2016-04-12T03:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/81 "2016-04-26T20:12:30Z")
Last month for my birthday I went out and bought a new (used) mandolin from a local music store - “Fanny’s House of Music.” My wife knew about the purchase, but didn’t really pay attention to where I got it. Today, she got our credit card bill and had only one charge on it this month, since I don’t use it very often. But she immediately called me at work, wondering if - and why - I had spent $500 at “Fanny’s House.” ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/82 "2016-04-27T16:25:23Z")
Not really a business, but in my home country the main penitentiary facility is near the town of _Libertad_, so it is called _Penal de Libertad_, which translates to Freedom Penitentiary. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/83 "2016-04-28T22:05:15Z")
In Muncie, Indiana there’s a _Citizens Exchange Bank._ I called to check, but they refused to tell me how many Laotians I could get for 3 Swiss citizens. Maybe the exchange rate changes daily. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/84 "2016-04-28T22:22:41Z")
When I lived in Indianapolis, I sometimes took I-65 near Market St., where there was a prominent building featuring the giant logo [“House Of A Million Screws”](https://www.trademarks411.com/marks/72437275-ss-the-house-of-a-million-screws). This used to be the motto of Service Supply Co. (industrial products), which is still in Indianapolis but has dropped the logo. Yet another casualty of political correctness. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/85 "2016-04-29T11:42:08Z")
In Avon, CO at the base of Beaver Creek ski resort, there is a _ **Beaver Liquor** _. They sell a lot of t-shirts in addition to being a liquor store. In Shanghai, several years ago, I saw a life insurance company called _ **Taikeng Life** _. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/86 "2016-04-29T11:46:56Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > When I lived in Indianapolis, I sometimes took I-65 near Market St., where there was a prominent building featuring the giant logo [“House Of A Million Screws”](https://www.trademarks411.com/marks/72437275-ss-the-house-of-a-million-screws).( My “home away from home” is [House of 1000 Beers](http://houseof1000beers.com/). My standard reply is, “yes there are over one thousand, and no, I haven’t tried them all yet.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/87 "2016-04-29T11:48:44Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > There used to be a bar in the town I grew up in called The Office. I guess so that men could call home and tell their wives that they were still at The Office. Oh, if those count… A bar called The Cafeteria; another one called The Street (this one fooled the parents of many of my classmates for months, between the time it opened and the first time those parents happened to walk by it); there was also The Lunchroom (one of the few bars in town which did not serve any food beyond bags of chips) and The Hospital (which was nowhere near the actual hospital). A different situation, but one of my American coworkers almost fell off my car’s shotgun seat when he saw a bar called Crack. After some momentary confusion I explained the name was a reference to soccer forwards, not to drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/88 "2016-04-29T12:46:52Z")
Village Farms is the name of a hundred million dollar corporation that operates a bunch of [giant greenhouses](http://bigbendnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/village-farms-hail-damage-for-the-web.jpg), mostly in remote west Texas near-desert locations having little connection with anything resembling a village. Their main product is those tomatoes-on-a-vine found in most grocery stores. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/89 "2016-04-29T12:52:05Z")
The French Laundry is a seriously top-shelf (and mega expensive) restaurant in Yountville CA (Napa Valley). ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/90 "2016-04-29T13:02:36Z")
It took a few pre-google years in New England for me to figure out what the trucks with [W.B.Mason](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1a/WB_Mason_Flag_Logo.jpg) emblazoned on the side were all about. Flags? Masonry? Mustache wax? I was reminded of this while tootling down the highway with some out of New England friends who were also quite puzzled. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/91 "2016-04-29T19:25:15Z")
Nobody’s mentioned the Sofa King? There’s one in Hackensack NJ. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/92 "2016-04-29T20:33:11Z")
[Pho King](http://cdn.foodbeast.com/content/uploads/2014/02/Pho-King-Delicious.jpg) (and remember that Pho is pronounced “fuh”) ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/93 "2016-04-30T21:34:44Z")
Apparently there is a business called **Famous Restaurant** near my office. It \*is \*a restaurant, but I’ve been working here nearly ten years and never heard of it before today. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/94 "2016-04-30T23:42:49Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > At first I thought you were joking. There are dozens if not hundreds of Cumberland Farms gas stations in the northeast, have been for decades, and I assumed it was a national chain. But you’re right, it doesn’t _sound_ like a gas station! But it does sound like a chain that started as a dairy store. We even had one where I grew up in NYS – my brother got fired from ours for trying to buy beer underage and on the job. :smack: > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > There’s a business in town with a weird name I don’t want to know more about. > > It’s called D&C Pizza. I buy my work shirts from QVC’s Denim and Co. line. Unfortunately they have this logo [http://www.trademarkia.com/logo-images/qvc/d--co-denim--company-85569372.jpg](http://www.trademarkia.com/logo-images/qvc/d--co-denim--company-85569372.jpg) which always reads d&c to my early-morning brain. Ick. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/95 "2016-05-01T02:01:55Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > There used to be a bar in the town I grew up in called The Office. I guess so that men could call home and tell their wives that they were still at The Office. We have a coffee shop called “The Office” in my city. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/96 "2016-05-01T02:26:18Z")
We have near here a Pied Piper Daycare, which I certainly hope is misleading. Googling reveals that this is a really popular name for preschools, daycares and other kid oriented businesses across the country. Isn’t the fairy tale well known among Americans? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/97 "2016-05-01T06:03:58Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > OK, Stokes Mortuary in my home town did not have a crematorium. Nor would I expect anyone to be stoked to be doing business there. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/98 "2016-05-01T06:08:14Z")
There was a bar near my house here in Tel Aviv called “Dorothy”, with a big picture of Judy Garland on the door. To my surprise, it wasn’t a gay bar. I guess the owners just really liked _Wizard of Oz._ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/99 "2016-05-01T08:37:52Z")
I once passed a block of apartments called “Cape View”. It wasn’t just 10 miles away from the nearest water, it was 60 miles from the nearest cape. Turns out it was on Cape St, so yes, technically it did have a view of the street. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2016, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974/100 "2016-05-01T10:01:59Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > There can be a cultural difference between what might be misleading. The Japanese company Yamaha makes both pianos and motorcycles. In America, it is hard to imagine a pianist playing a concerto at Carnegie Hall on a Harley Davidson grand, or a biker showing up in Deadwood on a Steinway chopper. Japanese Zaibatsu make a huge range of random and seemingly unconnected products, though - Mitsubishi, for example, make (or are heavily involved in) cars, trucks, televisions, airconditioners, banking, coal mining and beer brewing, among other things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/misleading-business-names-that-youve-encountered-in-your-travels/751974.md?page=6)