Bengals, Bandits, Crusaders, Redhawks….
Hebron, Florence, Oxford, Richmond…
Walgreen’s, Krogers, Chipotle, Dillard’s…..
What’s in a name? Why was it chosen? What does it mean?
Hello, and welcome to Archer and Company Roaster’s first blog post! Today we are sharing the story behind our company’s name. As you read this story, we hope you get to know us better!
Names are important. They reveal history, pedigree, likes, and dislikes. Names create identity and connections. They give vision. Funny, punny, or just plain fun to say. You can hate a name or love a name, but the reality is that names are important!
So, why Archer and Company Roasters…what is the story behind our name?
First, a back story–Liz, Mary Beth and I had committed to opening a specialty coffee roastery with online wholesale/retail sales. Our manufacturing site also enabled us to have a small retail space for local customers. Next came the name decision.
The name game started with Liz, Mary Beth, and me writing down a list of names we liked individually. Wow! We were all over the place!! Apparently, all three of us love alliteration–“Pesky Pelican Roasters”.... “Purple Pelican Roasters”.... “Bean Babies Coffee Roasters”.... “Coffee Clutch Roasters”–get the idea? These were fun names, filled with alliteration, but we could not agree! Back to the drawing board…
The next round of names were punny, but still no consensus. On this round, we used AI and the possibilities seemed endless: “Brewed Awakening,” “Roaster’s Grounds for Celebration,” “Bean There, Done That Roastery,” “Perk Up Roastery,” “Daily Grind Coffee Company,” and perhaps my favorite of the AI bunch: “Java the Hut Roasters.” We laughed until we cried, but still no name.
At last, Liz came up with a name that was fun….. a name that we all liked….a name that had such cute marketing possibilities! We were excited. Consensus! What was this amazing name? Silly Goose Roastery. YES, our new coffee roasting company was going to be SILLY GOOSE ROASTERY!!! …until it wasn’t. For about three weeks, we were SGR, until a thorough internet search revealed another Silly Goose Roastery……UGH....back to the drawing board.
Next, we focused more on our business niche-delicious specialty coffee from a faith-filled family. During this attempt, company names reflected coffee roasting, family, and faith, in one way or another. Names tossed around included “G.E.M. Roasters” (our legal first names combined), “B.E.T. Roasters” (our last names combined), and even “Sisters and Daughter Roasters.” Other monikers that surfaced were “Coffee and Jesus Roasting Company,” “St. Sebastian’s Roasters,” and “I love Jesus and Coffee Roasting Company.” None of these names completely captured our hearts, but we finally felt like we were on the right track…..so ,we took time to step back, pray over this name challenge, and then meet again.
Once back together again, we again kept our business niche in mind. One main thought emerged—we wanted faith and family to be our mission and mindset as we roasted and sold our coffee beans. Therefore, let’s circle back and name the company after our grandchildren and let our love of Jesus come through as we meet and serve our customers and as we pray daily for our customers and their intentions!
Grandchildren-yes!! We love our grandchildren and using their names would be awesome. But how?
I had seven grandchildren (with two more on-the way) and Mary Beth had one grandson. We couldn’t figure out an acronym using J, L, L, E, P, M, A, and A, and we certainly couldn’t choose just one or two of the grandchildren for our coffee roastery’s name …or could we? As we talked some more, we decided that we would use Liz’s son (Mary Beth’s grandson), Archer, as one component of our name and somehow use my grandchildren in the name as well. We loved this idea and so possible names now included “Anna, Archer, and Friends Roasting Company”, “Archer and Cousins Roasters”, and “Archer and Friends Roastery.” No name seemed quite right, but we were close…….
Finally, it happened. I’m not sure who came up with the name, but we all loved “ARCHER AND COMPANY ROASTERS!” Archer, being Liz’s son, and Mary Beth’s grandson, received top billing, and the “ COMPANY” was for my seven, but now nine grandchildren– James, Lucy, Anna, Leo, Phil, Elena, Meia, Maggie, and Jordan. “Company” would also represent all our future grandchildren!
ARCHER AND COMPANY ROASTERS–That’s the story of our name. Jesus, family, and delicious specialty coffee–three of our loves that we now share with you.
We invite you to visit Archer and Company Roasters at 1720 Petersburg Road in Hebron, KY, or visit our website (www.archerroasters.com.) We can talk about specialty coffee as you decide which ones to purchase…. We can pray together or write your intentions on our prayer board and we can share photos of children and grandchildren!