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Advice for changing Retail business name

dereknazzal

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Hello All,

I have decided to change my business name and I wanted to get advice and feedback. I'm curious if any of you have gone through this before with a brick and mortar store and what your experience was. What are the pros and cons? Here is a little background of my business.

The name of my business is Sofas 4 Less and I sell custom sofas. My store is located in San Francisco. I moved my location into San Francisco 15 months ago after being about 30 miles away for 5 years. Business is doing pretty good but I know it could be a lot better. I feel my business name is holding me back. Originally I sold cheap sofas and that is why I first had the name. Now though the name doesn't suggest I sell custom sofas. Plus my prices are very good so most people assume that something is wrong. Like it is too good to be true. Usually it is only after they read my Yelp reviews they are convinced to buy from me. Please let me know if you have questions. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.
 
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Mrs. BRKb

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Hello All,

I have decided to change my business name and I wanted to get advice and feedback. I'm curious if any of you have gone through this before with a brick and mortar store and what your experience was. What are the pros and cons? Here is a little background of my business.

The name of my business is Sofas 4 Less and I sell custom sofas. My store is located in San Francisco. I moved my location into San Francisco 15 months ago after being about 30 miles away for 5 years. Business is doing pretty good but I know it could be a lot better. I feel my business name is holding me back. Originally I sold cheap sofas and that is why I first had the name. Now though the name doesn't suggest I sell custom sofas. Plus my prices are very good so most people assume that something is wrong. Like it is too good to be true. Usually it is only after they read my Yelp reviews they are convinced to buy from me. Please let me know if you have questions. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.


I was right there thinking that you'd outgrown the name til I looked online. You have so much brand equity! The reviews are incredible.

Instead of dumping Sofas4Less, what about adding a sister brand- Derek's Custom Sofas or Custom Sofas by Derek? (Maybe you already have another name in mind?) Your SF signage and advertising could reflect the new name, but you'd also be the old name, too, so that people and word of mouth referrals could still find you.

Ordinarily I'd say not to use your name in a brand, but SF has respect for craftsmen, artists, and relationships. If you hire more employees as you scale up, they could even be Derek, too (or Derek II, DerekBob, DerekDaniel etc). It could be a gimmick, and part of your story: ie, "no matter who takes care of you at Derek's, the customer service and workmanship are always awesome."

Best wishes, and welcome to the forum.
 

Z5 FILMS

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So all of your sofas are custom built and you don't like the name because it sounds "cheap"?


Everyone seems to know you as "Sofas 4 Less" and you have great reviews and that's the name people are calling you. You have customers who you have already paid for and are tooting your horn. Keep all that. I think ditching the core customer would be a mistake. You can always add a "Custom Shop" to the store or add a brand line "Custom's By Derek" to the Sofas 4 Less store. Would be easy to tack that on to your website and add a custom corner to the showroom and the word custom obviously lets them know it's going to be higher end and more expensive.

Also if this is your website, you need to fix it ASAP. It's ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE! None of the links work, the video does not work, there's no pictures of anything, Pictures are all stock photos that were grabbed off other sites. Seriously, If I was furniture shopping and saw this site, it would scare me away. It looks "shady" to me. Your Yelp reviews are what's saving you.

http://customsofas4less.com
 

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