New Bakery needs a name

[kokopuffs]

Baker's Street is a common name, FYI. There was one bakery here with that name and another one on the east coast. The one here was forced to change its name because of some conflict with another bakery of the same name.

[snakelady1]

Thanks for the heads up kokopuffs. I will definately check out the legality of the name before using it. I would love to work in the underground railroad into the bakery not sure how catchy a name it would be. Although the logo sure could be awesome. Having to hide underground to eat the great baked goods in peace Historically I think this is a great attraction to the building. What do you think....The Underground Bakery? By the way the business plan for the bakery is just about finished. I really am looking forward to getting into business for myself.

[Kimmie]

Dear

I don't think you understood my idea....I meant, from what you said, that your premises sits almost as a national treasure, as it were, something like the Freedom bell in Philadelphia, and something Americans should all be very proud of...if that is the case, and you wish to incorporate this into your corporate name, then the resulting name should be something like: "The Underground Railroad Bakery"...n'est-ce pas?

[panini]

Papa suggests PANINI.
Might want to check that one out. I know someone who has trademarked 3 logo's for this. Plus a lot of other legal mumbo jumbo.
Hummmm, Panini, what a great name for a bakery. Once I was walking in Europe with my wife, we came upon the nicest elderly gentleman selling panini's.I mentioned that if I ever open a bakery I would name it Panini. That was twelve yrs. ago.

[kokopuffs]

How about a name like DAIRYLAND GRAINS AND GOODNESS?

[snakelady1]

OK how does this sound "A CRUST ABOVE BAKERY?" The president of the Ripon Chamber of Commerce suggested this today.....

[Kimmie]

I like it but it's entirely up to you!!

[Anneke]

Snakelady, as Kimmie said, it's up to you, but personally, I kind of liked the "Underground Bakery" or something to that effect. Here's why:

The Underground railroad or the underground bakery can easily be shortened by the customer and your bakery will end up being called 'the Underground' quite simply. The Crust above is difficult to simplify, and I don't think being called 'The Crust" is all that appealing. This reminds me of when my sister was looking for a name for her baby boy: she wanted something that would sound nice even in it's diminutive form.. She liked William but hated Bill, loved Christopher, didn't like Chris, etc... You get my point?

Next, 'The Underground" has something very avant-garde about it, a sort of 'naughty-but-nice' feel to it which is very appealing to customers who are looking for something different and better.

Whatever you choose, I think the simpler the better; consumer mentality works that way! Good luck!

[snakelady1]

Anneke you have a point there I spent that kind of thought when naming my children because I didn't want it shortend into a nickname Devon and Iris my second born is Darrien which could be shortend to Dare but that is acceptable to me you are right I need to think about how people would shorten my business name to be a familiar phrase that everyone would call me. I hope those spelunkers find some hard evidence that it existed under the store.

[Isa]

And think of the fun you will have making up dessert and giving them rairoad, underground or not, related names...

[snakelady1]

I met with the chamber of commerce today and they really want the bakery but not the underground railroad name. The Main Street Commitee said that it may be a long time before they know where the ladder leads.... Apparently accounts differ some say that it might have been used as a speakeasy during prohibition....it could have been used for both who knows. The president of the chamber came up with "A Crust Above Bakery" kinda cute but hubby didn't seem thrilled with it.... He came up with Temptation Bakery
( I keep thinking of Temptation Island and I shudder). I thought if the diggers find the room that they think is there maybe the Cavern Bakery Talked to a small business councelor today also he thought my business plan was on target just need to fill in some more numbers

[Isa]

That's a bummer. How about something simple like Au bon pain aka at the good bread? Or go with the street name you know x's bakery or with your name.

[Kimmie]

Dear Snakelady:

I have just read your last post, and my over-
riding first impression is..."how high-handed of them!"-although they obviously have a function to perform, and must be on the lookout for the occasional unsuitable name out of the lyrical mind of the occasional Anneke-I still have visions of crusty Golden whatevers swirling around in my mind-but still, the point is you are willing to invest your time and money into their Chamber; it seems that barring the odd really unsuitable or racist name, it is NOT APPROPRIATE for them to censor your choices of names. Moreover, as Anneke has so-rightly pointed out, people will "latch" onto your enterprise's name, make it their own, as it were, and if you really put a lot of thought into it, and come up with a moniker that everyone loves, with different groups having their own special name for it, well, this could be the diff between success or failure for your fledgling little bakery!
I thought Underground Railroad naturally lent itself to many groups of clients, and of course, I romanticize the historical aspects of this because I am Canadian and don't perhaps understand it all that well, but I live in the tourist area of a large Canadian city, surrounded by horse-drawn carriages, stone walls etc. (my loft is 18th Century stone) and there is NO lack of AMERICAN tourists here, making it their own!!
If you feel comfortable with a name-ANY name-
then stick to your guns.
Good luck with your meetings.

[Anneke]

Yeah! You go girl!!!!

(Kimmie is so cool!)

[panini]

Snakelady, even though I would not vote for under,,, I would not let the Chamber dictate things right off the bat. They are risking nothing and you will probably be risking a lot. Your name should lend itself to some identifiable product or equipment. What do you think your best selling item will be? You might want to work off that. If it's hand done, maybe something like bread board, bread bowl etc.
We picked Panini and it took a while to work the name. Fortunately we are now a household word in our area, but if I did it again I would choose something more identifiable. Use your under... as your corp. name and DBA the bakery's name. I don't know if we are allowed to put our sites.paninicakes.com.
Business questions! I love them!!! please ask. We have a few location, some for production and the retail.
The best of Luck
Jeff