Interesting Ideas Update

U.S. 11 as it runs between Birmingham and Bessemer, Alabama, is an outdoor vernacular art gallery that gives even the beloved Western Avenue in Chicago a run for its money.

A new treasury of oddball store names from around the world.

Weird, Wacky and Just
Plain Embarrassing Business Names From the Grog N Groc Hall of Fame

Order the book here

This comment from the business name page deserves featuring since it is an instance of the all-important “things” concept.

Tracy Says:

1. July 19th, 2006 at 11:04 am We have “Taste Good” Chinese Restaurant here, and there’s this place that was called “Ying’s” and then he added more and called it “Ying’s Wings”. That wasn’t enough, though, it became “Ying’s Wings and Things”. That was before he built the bar area. The name now? “Ying’s Wings, Things and Bar”.Here’s their website:
   http://www.yingswingsthings.com/

The creativity on display from Florida to Chicago can’t be beat. There are two new pages of roadside signage, the second devoted to Albany, Georgia, a great example of how lean times can preserve a certain slice of our visual culture.

S. Tice-Lewis contributed a great name, Cum Park Plaza in Haw River, N.C. I found it documented on another site.

A new round of names added to the Grog N Groc Hall of Fame:

Just added some great names to the Grog N Groc Hall of Fame:

Someone submitted this one a long time ago to the Grog N Groc Hall of Fame. I stumbled across the sign recently in Buffalo:

Know any great store names? Nominate them here for the Grog N Groc Hall of Fame.