Signs from the Mysterious Southland

Test your L.A. IQ:

You are driving 35 miles per hour on Santa Monica Boulevard near La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood when you see this large sign:

What is the sign advertising?

A. A belly-dancing academy.

B. A cosmetic surgery clinic specializing in the rejuvenation of lady parts.

C. An ambitious one-named Brazilian model hoping to become a model-actress.

The correct answer is (D) None of the above. If you're curious enough about the sign, as I was, that you find a parking space, cross either of the very busy boulevards, and zoom in for a closer inspection, you see this:

Kind of downmarket-looking for a "premium experience." And "Famima" strikes me as too perilously close to "famine" to suit a sandwich joint.

Then there's the punctuation. I'd seen single exclamation points in business names--for example, BevMo!--but the double exclamation point is new to me, and peculiar looking.

The big green sign also displays a URL, which I neglected to photograph. When I got to a computer and searched for "Famima," I discovered the Japanese parent company's website, in Japanese. Famima USA is a little more helpful: I learned that the company has 13,000 outlets throughout Asia, and that Famima USA was established in 2004. The "Famima!! Difference" amounts to "redefining the convenience store." For example:

We don't just have soup, we have soup!!

Now!! I!! Get!! It!!

As for the name, here's the official story:

About 35 years ago, Famima!! started in a small Japanese neighborhood as FamilyMart. In fact, the name Famima!! comes from an abbreviation of FAMIlyMArt. Since then, FamilyMart has remained virtually the same, offering fresh goods, a selection of grocery items and popular quick-foods that can be eaten on the run or taken home as a meal.

"Famima" may sound yummy to a native speaker of Korean, Thai, or Japanese, but like several other imported names, in English it's ... not so good.

Comments

[Jessica]

Ooh, Nancy, you missed their Steamy Buns campaign in March (http://www.famima-usa.com/events/index.html). Gosh, I hope they do it again!!

I am so obsessed with the inexplicable juxtaposition of their "Premium Experience" and "Premier Sandwiches," however, that I don't yet have the time to obsess over how to pronounce Famima, with or without double exclamation marks!!

[Nick Tata]

At the very top of the second photo, did you catch the double exclamation point followed by a possessive? " Famima!!'s "

[Adrian Morgan]

Looking at the photograph, my first guess was that it was a restaurant or take-away, and if I encountered such an establishment I would assume the name to be perfectly deliberate. Potential customers see a word that looks like famine and are prompted to think, "yes I am feeling rather famished, now you come to mention it, and I would like some food". The same psychology is used often enough by other establishments (e.g. Hungry Jack's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_Jack's ), and it makes perfect sense. I don't agree with you that "Famima" is an unsuitable name in English for a food establishment.