Yarn Stores, Candy Shops, Funeral Homes and More Kinds of Punny Businesses

(Photos: Joseph Everly (Avant Card); Elizabeth Schwartz (Presents of Mind); Dan Siegel (Seas the Day); Rachel Lackey (Thistle Dew Nicely); Jeremy Schwartz (Touch of Glass); Julie Hove (Sew What); Simone Rapa (Tow Jam); Jacoby Young (Wooden It Be Nice))

See our ultimate crowdsourced map of punny businesses in America.

In putting together this project, one of the first things that Atlas Obscura did was make some guesses about the categories of business that were prone to pun names. Most of the categories were quite broad—“restaurants” for instance—and some were narrow (“portable bathrooms”).

But the categories were by no means complete. Welcome to the real grab-bag, the hundreds of businesses marked “other.”

Making generalizations about this group is, by definition, difficult. But some patterns did emerge. Yarn stores proved to be marvelous at puns—Lori’s Yarn Dezvous, Have Ewe Any Wool, Knit Happens, From Sheep To Shore, Purlescence, and Sheep Thrills are just a few of the 27 yarn and knitting store names submitted. Purveyors of booze and other intoxicants also proved pun-happy: among the 50 pun names of stores selling beer, wine, liquor, marijuana, bongs and vaporizers, there were many gems: who can resist the Pour Decisions Taproom, Herb -N- Legend Smoke Shop, City Liquors, or Planet of the Vapes?

Pun-lovers looking for more wholesome pastimes or shops that serve practical needs are well served, too, though. Auto shops, landscaping companies, bike stores, tanning salons and ceramics studios were among the most well represented types of businesses in this category.

—Even in death, people can have a little pun. We collected 14 names of funeral homes or cemeteries, including Mount Ever-Rest and Mainely Urns and Memorials (located in Maine).

—For the most part, bigger cities (Brooklyn, Chicago, etc.) had the greatest concentration of pun names, but Denver, Colo., was the stand-out here, with names including Details, Details (an autobody shop), the Oh, Wheelie? bike shop, Glazed and Confuzed Donuts, and six punny marijuana dispensaries. Starbuds, anyone?

—There’s really no limit to what sort of business can have a pun name: we collected at least one example of a dance studio, dive shop, gourmet mushroom hunter, phone repair person, Segway rental place, skate shop and speech therapist with a pun name.

Editor’s picks:

Edifice Wrecks (A demolition company in Watertown, MA)

My Aiken Body (A massage therapist in Aiken, SD)

Haulin’ Ash (Chimney sweeps in Bellingham, WA)

Sure Lock Homes (A locksmith in Port Orchard, WA)

Dirty Hoe (A landscaping company in Asheville, NC)

Wizard of Odds (An antique shop in Beach Haven Crest, NJ)

Site for Sore Eyes (An eyewear store in San Francisco, CA)

Goin’ Postal (A shipping company in Bellevue, WA)

Beers To You (A beer store in Breiningsville, PA)

Take That (A junk hauler in Brooklyn, NY)

Kitsch-22 (A clothing store in Eugene, OR)

Merchant of Tennis (A sporting goods store in Los Angeles, CA)

Once Upon A Crime (A mystery bookstore in Minneapolis, MN)

Vinyl Resting Place (A record store in Portland, OR)

Here are all the other categories:

Coffee shops

Bar/Pubs 

Doctors and Dentists

Food Trucks

Pet Care

Restaurants

Cleaning Businesses/Flower Shops/Portable Bathrooms

Hair/Nail Salons

The full list: