On my way to the Lehigh Valley International Airport today, I got behind a truck bearing a name that immediately brought a smile to my face. In November I wrote about business names after seeing a furniture store named “Badcock & More.” In the same post, I talked about the origin of the names of companies I owned. While none of those illicit a hearty belly laugh, I still enjoy pointing out ones that do, like this one.

Follow the BIMBO!

BIMBO! According to their website, “Founded in Mexico in 1945, GRUPO BIMBO has become one of the preeminent bread companies in Mexico and Latin America. With around 5,000 products and more than 100 known brands, BIMBO is present in 18 countries from the Americas to Europe and Asia. BIMBO BAKERIES USA has been operating in the United States of America for around 10 years with its headquarters in Horsham, Pennsylvania.”

They may have a funny name and a cute and cuddly little mascot (check him out on their website), but nothing was more cute and cuddly than what I saw at my next stop. Monkeys!

As I was driving out of the Park N Fly airport parking lot in Fort Lauderdale, I spotted an unusual sight that caught my attention. Animal lover that I am, I was overly excited to see these little guys walking around the parking lot like you and I would. The one in the picture below sat on the curb and stared at me while I talked to him. When I reached for the camera and started moving around a bit, he got a little nervous and decided to walk away. As I was pulling out I saw another adult monkey and three little one running around.

I asked a lot porter about them and he said, “We’re the only parking lot in South Florida with monkeys!” No, it’s not a marketing campaign, he went on to say that these cute, furry critters have lived there for years and provide plenty of entertainment for employees and customers.

As I drove away, I had a craving for a loaf of bread and wanted to take a monkey home as a pet. I guess it’s good I didn’t pass that furniture store on the way home.

When I first started in business back in 1994, I set out to sell supplies for pet ferrets and other “exotic” critters. The name given to the company at that time was “Northeast Exotic Pet Supply.” But just after a few weeks, ferret owners complained by the dozens that “ferrets are not exotic animals.”

So in a mad dash the name was changed to simply NEEPS since we already owned the neeps.com domain and domain names were far more expensive than they are today. So we did business as NEEPS until we saved up enough money to buy TheFerretStore.com domain.

I’m always asked where the names of the companies I owned came from. Take Solid Cactus for instance. It means absolutely nothing. We were sitting around the office one day wondering what to call the company, I wanted something that looked good in a logo, we tossed shapes around and came up with the funky name that caught on quickly.

When I’m asked what NEEPS stands for, I pass on the pet supply explanation and cut straight to the alternate ending. It means nothing. Nothing Except Extremely Pathetic Shit. That always illicits a chuckle from the ask-ee, then I tell them the truth.

I always look at company names and try to figure out the meaning behind them. The other night I passed a furniture store with a name that made me smile. With my camera at the ready, I snapped away in the hopes that you will get a chuckle out of it as well.

I just wonder what the “more” is.