I was never a big Fixer Upper fan. Don’t get me wrong, I’d watch the show (or three in a row) every now and then, but I definitely never set my DVR to record it. However, after a few client meetings in Waco, Texas, the home base for all things Chip and Joanna, I must admit I fell a little more in love with their Magnolia Empire. From the popular Magnolia Market to the Target line Hearth & Hand with Magnolia, everything the Gaineses touch turns to gold. All of this is to say that it got me wondering why they chose the name Magnolia. And for that matter, why do any brands name their companies what they do? If you stay up late at night pondering these same questions, then this blog post is for you. Rest easy my friends; I’m about to educate you.
IKEA
Founder Ingvar Kamprad decided on the name IKEA by combining his initials with the first letters of the farm and village where he grew up – Elmtard and Agunnaryd.
WD-40
First of all, I had no idea that WD stood for water displacing. But now that I do… after 39 failures in the lab, the water-displacing spray was finally perfected on the 40th try.
AMAZON
Story has it that Jeff Bezos wanted a name that began with an “A” so it was at the top of an alphabetical list. Since he hoped his company would become the biggest business in the world, he named it after the world’s largest river.
SKYPE
Originally deemed “Sky peer-to-peer” as a way to connect people from the sky wirelessly, it was shortened to Skyper only to find that Skyper.com was already a registered domain. So, the founders simply dropped the “r” at the end.
7-ELEVEN
Originally called Tote’m Stores, 7-Eleven changed its name in 1946 to reflect its new business hours – the convenience store was open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Now most stores are open 24 hours a day, but opted not to change the name this time around.
ARBY’S
Sorry, folks. Contrary to the popular rumor that Arby’s is named after its signature roast-beef sandwich (“roast beef” becomes “RB” becomes “Arby’s”), the name is actually based on the initials of the chain’s founders, the Raffel Brothers.
MAGNOLIA
You didn’t think I’d leave you hanging, did you? On the final episode of Fixer Upper, Chip revealed that during one of his first dates with Joanna, he climbed up a magnolia tree and pulled off a bloom to give to her. The flower now serves as the emblem of their home improvement empire. They even plant a magnolia tree at every project they do.
