Misleading Brand?

Shopping is one of my favorite things to do! What can I say? I am a woman.

My family and I were in New York City for a Christmas vacation. Needless to say, I did a lot of shopping with my mom. However, there is one store during that shopping spree up north that bothers me.

If I go shopping, I usually shop at familiar places such as Express, Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic. These store names are well-known, and it is obvious that they are clothing stores. During our vacation, my mom suggested that we should stop by Steve & Barry’s. I looked at her all confused and wondered why should we go to that store?

Here’s my perspective: Steve and Barry’s equals boy names. I assumed that it must be either a clothing line for males or a sports store. We have this store in my hometown mall. The location of the store was in the corner between an ice rink and an electronics store. The location and the display of the name made me think it was a sports store. I asked my brother later in the week what Steve & Barry’s is. He replied that it is a sports store. It turned out that we both were wrong… Yet, the fact that we both reached this wrong assumption indicates Steve and Barry’s has a branding problem. The name is misleading.

My mom told me that it is a casual clothing store for both male and female, and it has no connection with sports. I was shocked. What’s next? A sports store named Bridget and Fifi’s? A restaurant named “The Athlete’s Foot”?

It is misleading to me, and I imagine it may be to other people. It helps if a store’s title does not misrepresent what products it is selling.