What's in a name?

A lot of people who read the blog regularly have told me that their favourite post was the one about the houses and how pretty much anything goes when it comes to style and decoration. I found out early on that the same is true of shop names, and I've been collecting photos for this post for the last year. There are so many more I haven't been able to photograph so maybe this will just be the first in a series of shop posts, but I couldn't resist sharing what I've found so far.

Inspiration for your shop name can come from just about anywhere. Some people choose to name them after existing shops, or places, or even TV shows:

Harrods, complete with unnecessary apostrophe

I know they look like shopping trolleys in this photo, but it's actually a shop selling fabric and saris. Aux Champs Elysées also sells material.

Aux Champs Elysées

The friends clothes shop

In the slightly more creative category we have West Side Store. I like the fact that they are retailers of foodstuff AND non foodstuff. Doesn't that basically mean they sell everything? 

"Mine" in Mauritius (and maybe elsewhere but I'd never heard of it before) are noodles; the kind you get in a Chinese restaurant if you don't want rice. They're very common here. La bonne mine, for those who don't speak French, literally means "the good noodle", but "avoir bonne mine" is also an expression which means to be looking well. 

The next ones might be my favourite category of shop name, and it's the one I see most of; the "make your shop sound amazing" category.

The Magic Deal supermarket where you always win. This is a chain.

"Ideal Corner" - this one is a bar as well as a shop

Chicken Chef - Awesomely Chicken!

Dream Price. I've also seen "Prix Logique"

Charming Fashion. So great it needs to be hidden.

Some people don't even bother with a name; they just tell you directly what you can expect to find in their shop or on their stand. In this case, gateaux doesn't mean cakes as you might expect, but rather a selection of savoury, fried things like samosas, chili cakes, or slices of aubergine or potato.

The originality in this one is not the name - it just says "hardware store" and the name of the owner, but more the fact that he's written it backwards. Well, it certainly caught my eye.

I particularly like the name of this one. Hard to know what it sells, but it's so friendly I'd go there anyway.

Some shop names are just plain strange, like the UK Connection English Ladies Fashion (which certainly doesn't appeal to this English lady!) and Le Crack Boutik, which sells TV and phone accessories. I don't know what they sell in the "Big" shop next door.

Finally, there are the people who name their shops after themselves or their families. Unfortunately, some names don't come across so well in other languages....