The city is full of walk-in businesses — shops, stores, eateries, bars, banks, fix-it places. That means the streets are full of business names. Many belong to chains — Victoria’s Pornderwear, WellsForger. Independent businesses generally opt for description, either generic — Sichuan Taste — or whimsical — Sichuan Flamethrower. A significant minority go by the name of the owner. Capitalism reverses the caste mindset of the Middle Ages, when occupations created surnames — Smith, Schneider, Zimmerman. Now names christen businesses. Sometimes the name outlasts the founder, staying on the signage and the website after the business has passed to a relative, or even an unrelated buyer. It is the new aristocracy — the Capets and Hapsburgs of commerce.
My wife and I have been going to the same contact-lens specialist for 40 years. The office has the most unprepossessing entrance, short of a gambling den: all-weather-carpeted steps descending from street level and hooking under the entry to the business above it (a restaurant). Inside all is bright, clean, and cheery.
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