The Greatest Retail Name Ever!

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It takes great confidence to name a store this name.
In my travels as an adman, I’ve been to many places and seen many things. I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain. I’ve seen James Taylor on fire and pleading for water. Any kind of water. But I’ve never seen a retail establishment with a name that tops the one in downtown Salisbury, North Carolina: OK Wigs.

Now, maybe OK is the initials of the owner, but I prefer to think it is a humble statement of the store’s inventory. I can imagine a customer wandering in off the street and the following conversation taking place…

The wigs look better than OK. But then again...
“Hi. Can you tell me about this wig?”
“Oh, it’s brown hair and it’s OK.”
“Is it a pretty good wig?”
“Ummm, I don’t think I’d go that far. It’s OK.”
“OK?”
“Yeah, OK. I mean, it pretty much covers the skull. See?”
“I see…”
“It’s hair-like. You can get brush it just like real hair.”
“Ummm hmmm…”
“So, I guess it’s pretty much OK.”
“It’s an OK wig?”
“Yep, OK. Definitely OK.”
“Nothing special.”
“No. Just OK.”
“Not the best?”
“Absolutely not the best.”
“And saying it’s pretty good would be going too far?”
“Probably. I mean, it’s not that good.”
“But it is OK?”
“Sure is. It’s OK all day long.”
“I see. And what about this wig over here?”
“It’s OK, too.”
“Is it any better than the other wig?”
“Nope. They’re both pretty OK.”
“And what about all these other wigs?”
“Well, let’s see. That’s OK. OK. OK. OK. OK. Well, they’re all OK.”
“So, they’re all OK wigs?”
“Yep. That’s all we sell here, OK wigs. Hence, the store’s name.”
“OK. I admire your humble honesty. I guess I’ll buy a couple OK wigs.”
“OK…”

And so it would go: hair flying out the door like a tornado through a six-seat barber shop. If you’re ever around downtown Salisbury, stop in and buy a few OK Wigs. They’ll make great gifts for your mannequin heads, or your own.

4 thoughts on “The Greatest Retail Name Ever!”

  1. You should have spent a little more time in Salisbury. All sorts of places there are OK. They’re a bit more discreet than OK Wigs. They don’t actually say they’re OK. But that’s what they are. Just OK. And that’s OK with me. (It just hit me. Maybe the wigs at OK Wigs are from Oklahoma.)

  2. I have spent much time in Salisbury and enjoyed the land of Food Lion and Cheerwine immensely. Much in Salisbury is much better than OK, but for hair skullcaps– apparently OK is fine enough, which is fine by me.

  3. OK, I feel like I need to comment on this one. I am the downtown development person here in Salisbury. My office is just across the street and I see this sign EVERY day and I frequently hear the comments about the wigs just being OK. Let me unravel the mystery. The business is owned by a korean couple, very nice folks… Her name is OK, pronounced “oak”. And by the way, his name is Cap. Guess they could have named OK Wigs and Caps but then people would have joked about sub par wigs AND hats… Salisbury is a GREAT City, founded in “1753”, full of great shops, galleries and restaurants. Please go to our website and you will see that we are so much more than just OK… 🙂

  4. Thanks for the back story and I am a huge Salisbury fan. I still love the name and I wish the store’s owners nothing but success. Hope to see you downtown some time. Thanks again .

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