Business names that sound strange to others?

[amylouky]

There's a cigar/tobacco store here called Cox's Smokers Outlet. It makes me snicker.
There's also a carpet outlet store in San Jose called MMM Carpet.. I was visiting a friend there and we passed by.. I said "Mmm, carpet?" He cracked up as he'd never thought of it that way.

[LTrew]

In England they pronounce filet more like fillet or fillit, so I can see how Chik-fil-a wouldn't make sense to them at all.  "Fillit" steak doesn't sound as nice to me as a filet mignon, even though it is the same cut

[Slartibartfast]

In 'n' Out Burger is another one that sounds dirty to me - probably because I didn't discover the chain until I was old enough to think of other connotations.

[Judah]

In 'n' Out Burger is another one that sounds dirty to me - probably because I didn't discover the chain until I was old enough to think of other connotations.

In 'n Out Burger used to have a bumper sticker that was very popular, but people usually cut out the B and the r in Burger to give the bumper sticker a whole different meaning.

[Shopaholic]

Bars in Tel Aviv like to have American names.
Some examples:

Rosa Parks
Lehman Brothers (they're still going strong)
Morty & Helen's
Betty Ford (oh, the irony...)

I wonder if the owners even know who Rosa Parks and Betty Ford were, or just heard it somewhere and thought it sounded cool.

[MrTango]

White Castle.

Around here, it's a fast-food place that specializes in very small "slider" burgers.

One of my wife's college roommates was from an area where White Castle was a chain of stores that specialize in adult "novelties" and videos.

[jedikaiti]

Not a business name, but business "type" - Realtor. I always have to think twice as to what it is, because to me, the name doesn't describe it.

Here we call them "estate agents" or "real estate agents". The former to me sounds like they're dealing with wills and the latter like they're dealing with vast huge stately properties.

There's actually a difference, at least in the US. Realtors are part of the National Association of Realtors. Real estate agents aren't.

[jedikaiti]

In 'n' Out Burger is another one that sounds dirty to me - probably because I didn't discover the chain until I was old enough to think of other connotations.

Along the same lines - Cum-n-Go. It's a chain of gas stations/convenience stores. Sounds like a house of ill repute, to me.

[Bluenomi]

If my car is in an accident and I need the dents hammered out of the door, I take it to an American "body shop." If I were in Australia or New Zealand, I'd take it to a "panel beater." First time I saw "panel beater" on a sign, I had no idea what it might be. It certainly conjures up an image of a bunch of folks hammering out those dents.

And when *I* first came to the US and saw "body shop", I wondered why it didn't look girly and relaxing. I thought t would be a place where you'd buy beauty products for your body.

It is if you are in the UK or Australia. The Body Shop sells all sorts of smelly girly things and are renown for selling those gift baskets of soaps and body washes you buy the female in your life you don't know what to buy for.

[BabylonSister]

If my car is in an accident and I need the dents hammered out of the door, I take it to an American "body shop." If I were in Australia or New Zealand, I'd take it to a "panel beater." First time I saw "panel beater" on a sign, I had no idea what it might be. It certainly conjures up an image of a bunch of folks hammering out those dents.

And when *I* first came to the US and saw "body shop", I wondered why it didn't look girly and relaxing. I thought t would be a place where you'd buy beauty products for your body.

It is if you are in the UK or Australia. The Body Shop sells all sorts of smelly girly things and are renown for selling those gift baskets of soaps and body washes you buy the female in your life you don't know what to buy for.

Now that you mention it, I must have seen one of those in France (where I lived prior to the US). Clearly, a US body shop is a rather different animal. 

[Midnight Kitty]

The Body Shop sells girly stuff in the US, too.

Personally, I love my husband's business name: Noneyo Bidness.

We live in Hawaii.  Most people try to pronounce it "No neh yo" as if it were an Asian or Hawaiian name.  Nope.  Closer to ebonics.

DH loves it when some bureaucrat asks him, "What's the name of your company?"
DH:  Noneyo Bidness
Bureaucrat:  Sir, I need the name of the business.
DH:  The name is "Noneyo Bidness."

Sometimes it goes round a couple times before they ask for the spelling and realize that DH is a rascal.

[wendelenn]

The Body Shop sells girly stuff in the US, too.

Personally, I love my husband's business name: Noneyo Bidness.

We live in Hawaii.  Most people try to pronounce it "No neh yo" as if it were an Asian or Hawaiian name.  Nope.  Closer to ebonics.

DH loves it when some bureaucrat asks him, "What's the name of your company?"
DH:  Noneyo Bidness
Bureaucrat:  Sir, I need the name of the business.
DH:  The name is "Noneyo Bidness."

Sometimes it goes round a couple times before they ask for the spelling and realize that DH is a rascal.

Who's on first?

[Baxter]

Schindlers Lifts - an elevator company in Australia.  Why, just why?!

[iridaceae]

I will always have a fondness for Chik Fil A, as a Romanian friend of mine just could not get the name right. He always called it "cheek a fil." I thought that was adorable.

I have a fondness for Chik-Fil-A since they once came around on BLack Friday and handed out hot chicken sandwiches to everyone waiting in line to announce the opening of a new store...about 5 miles away.

There is a store here in Tucson called The House of Hubcaps. It make me think of Bob & Ray, because it sounds like something they would have come up with.

[Shopaholic]

Schindlers Lifts - an elevator company in Australia.  Why, just why?!

Schindler is a huge company that is the biggest escalator manufacturer in the world, and a big elevator manufacturer as well.
According to wikipedia, they've been around since 1874 so they definitely have seniority - with both Oskar and Spielberg.