Business names that sound strange to others?

[Midnight Kitty]

A Chinese restaurant: Fook Yuen.

I know, it's a legitimate Chinese name and it is only our infantile sense of humor that twists it around into something that sounds bad.

[Slartibartfast]

I was a bit sad to see today that "Vinnie's Authentic Indian" finally has closed.  I mean, I suppose "Vinnie" can be a nickname for a traditionally Indian name too, but the "authentic" part always made me picture some stereotypical Italian mobster guy saying "no really, it's Indian food!"

[jaxsue]

I used to live in a NJ city where there were 2 businesses next to each other: one was named "Fox," the other "Mulder." 

[jmarvellous]

Apparently there's a chain of supermarkets in the US called Piggly Wiggly. Maybe in the South? I'm in the Midwest and have never seen one in real life. I guess you get used to things, but I can't imagine saying, "I'm going to run down to the Piggly Wiggly," with a straight face...

Oh, yes. Piggly Wiggly is all over here in my city (Charleston, SC). We usually just say "I'm running to the Pig- need anything?" Of course, if you need some harder to find items you go to the "Big Pig" which is the largest store in the chain in my area, because they have more variety. My next door neighbor is the manager of my local Pig!

Some things about the Pig:

They are very into selling locally grown foods, which is a big plus for a lot of people. We have a large farming community so many of us prefer to buy our produce there.

The Newton family, the owners of the chain, also own one of our finest (and nationally renowned) restaurants.

They have recently come out with their own brand of beer called Pig Swig.

I used to know a young woman who was married to a Newton. Sadly, she was widowed a few years later. When she remarried several years later, the Newtons insisted on giving her a $2 million house as a wedding gift. Must be nice!

As far as I can tell, Piggly Wiggly is a chain of independently owned shops started by the Saunders family.

It looks like your local stores are the chain's largest franchise group, once owned by some Newtons and now run by a man with the surname of Schools and "employee-owned."

The one Piggly Wiggly I have experience with, in Georgia in the '80s and '90s, was disgusting. I hope they've improved over the years! Perhaps individual franchisees excel.

Moving on ...
My town has Book People and Book Woman. Either seems to accept patrons of any age and sex (though the former is a general-interest bookstore and the latter is a feminist/female interest bookstore).

For some reason the Poodle Dog Lounge (which has a (trashy) Christmas theme year-round) cracks me up.

[GeauxTigers]

I used to live in a NJ city where there were 2 businesses next to each other: one was named "Fox," the other "Mulder." 

Oh, excellent! Did they root for the Jersey Devils?

[Marisol]

Is the Piggly Wiggly the one with a giant sun with sunglasses on that looks like a deranged Lisa Simpson?  I sort of remember seeing lots of those when driving through the South. 

[DavidH]

I think it was the presentation, but there is a marmalade made by Wm P. Hartley.  For a long time, on the top of the jar in the US, the P. and Hartley were so closely spaced that it read like one word suggesting an undesirable result from consuming it.

[jmarvellous]

Is the Piggly Wiggly the one with a giant sun with sunglasses on that looks like a deranged Lisa Simpson?  I sort of remember seeing lots of those when driving through the South.

Piggly Wiggly has a pig in a paper hat.

[Pippen]

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

Because if you get stuck in one no one will come and help you. 10 of us spent 3 hours tapped in one one night and the operators on the emergency phone kept hanging up on us and refused to send a tech out. Eventually we managed to prise the doors open and escape between 2 floors.

[snowdragon]

Two for the Dr Who fans out there:

Dalex Construction

and

Dalex Extermination

The first is almost brain hurty.

[marcel]

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

Because if you get stuck in one no one will come and help you. 10 of us spent 3 hours tapped in one one night and the operators on the emergency phone kept hanging up on us and refused to send a tech out. Eventually we managed to prise the doors open and escape between 2 floors.

To be fair though, those operators probably don't work for Schindler. On the other hand, we once had to wait 3 hours for the Schindler mechanic to come, when we had people stuck in an elevator. By that time we had already had the fire department rescue them, and then we had a good talk with Schindler about response times.

[katycoo]

I once stood outside a restaurant called "Gaylords". In London!!

Gaylord is an oldfashioned men's first name.  In London, that doesn't suprise me at all.

[Sharnita]

I once stood outside a restaurant called "Gaylords". In London!!

Gaylord is an oldfashioned men's first name.  In London, that doesn't suprise me at all.

There is a town named Gaylord in Michigan.

[Mental Magpie]

There is a building easily visible from the interstate that has its name in big letters. "SIX & GEVING".  I never read it right...


Also, there is a chain of tire and lube stores called Abra.  I want to open up a shop next to each one of their chains and name it Cadabra; it will be a body shop .

ETA: proper spelling.

[Twik]

There's a firm that's involved a lot in public constructions around my town - Priestley Demolitions.

I know it's just a name, but I love to visualize them doing their job by blowing ram's horns instead of using wrecking balls.