The number of sweet and chocolate shops, both on the high street and online is on the rise – such is the opportunity for UK confectionery retailing at the moment.

Whilst many stages of opening a new sweet or chocolate shop can be logically worked through (finding a suitable shop to rent, finding some good confectionery wholesalers and sweets suppliers, buying some display equipment) coming up with the right sweet shop name might require a little bit more time and thought.

With that in mind and knowing that many of our readers are looking for ideas, Sweet Retailing has put together some general advice on how to name your sweet shop so that you hopefully end up with the perfect name to suit your new venture! We did also write a post in our blog on this subject that might be of use to you.

Before we continue, just a note that when we say “sweet shop” we use the term to generically cover all manner of UK confectionery shops and online businesses such as specialist chocolate shops, more general confectionery stores and online confectionery shops. The principles of business names remain the same for all of these retailing models.

At the end of this article we have created a long list of common words or phrases that tend to get used (or could be used) when naming a sweet or chocolate shop. We hope that you find it helpful along with all of the other UK confectionery resources available within Sweet Retailing.

12 questions to ask

So, you’ve given it a fair bit of thought and you now have one or even a few sweet shop names that you quite like. What next? We would suggest that you honestly answer the following questions with regard to each of your potential sweet or chocolate shop names:

1. Is it easy to pronounce your sweet shop name?
2. Is it easy to spell?
3. Have you chosen a memorable sweet shop name?
4. Can children easily read and pronounce the name?
5. Is it too long? (four or five syllables should generally be sufficient)
6. If your name is a play on words, is it generally understood? (ask a few friends)
7. Does the shop name explain exactly what you do? If you are going to sell just chocolate for example, you might want a more specific chocolate shop name.
8. Are you intending to be a modern or a traditional sweet or chocolate shop? Your name needs to reflect this.
9. Who is your target audience? Children? Adults? A more premium audience? The name for your chocolate shop or sweet shop needs to take this point into account.
10. If you have plans to develop your business over time, perhaps more confectionery shops or a wide product range, can this be done with the sweet shop name that you have chosen?
11. Will your potential name work with your shop signage and as a logo?
12. If appropriate, is a relevant domain name available to fit with your potential sweet shop name?

Make use of what you have

Some people believe that sweet shop names should be pretty straightforward and say exactly what they are. For example The Village Sweet Shop. It is certainly clear and not difficult to understand! Other people feel that something more quirky and individual makes for a better name. For example Sweet Dreams, Cocoa Corner or indeed Auntie Joan’s Sweet Shop.

This brings me to my next point. Make use of what you have. Using your own name (forename or surname) can make for a more individual name for your sweet shop. This can also be achieved by using a title and surname, so, Mrs Miggle’s Munchies. Try also using Auntie, Uncle, Grandma and Grandpa to see what effect it has.

Alternatively, consider using the name of the place where the confectionery shop is or even part of your address (not so good if you have plans to expand your confectionery business to other parts of the UK).

Jumping online

It is highly likely that you will want to do something online with your sweet shop at some point in time and so making sure that you can have a suitable and relevant domain name is worth doing at the same time as setting up your sweet shop. It costs next to nothing to simply register and hold onto your chosen domain name until you are ready.

If one of your chosen sweet shop names is The Village Sweet Shop for example, you might not be able to register villagesweetshop.co.uk but you might manage to have village-sweetshop.co.uk. Of course there are other types of domains to consider as well such as .com, .ltd.uk and more. We would generally suggest sticking to .co.uk if you are a UK confectionery business.

A name such as Graham’s Sweet Shop might be easier when it comes to domain names. Your first search would be for grahamssweetshop.co.uk, which is a little more unique than the many generic names.

The best way forward is to have a list of your potential sweet shop names and get searching to create a list of all possible options. You might even choose to register more than one domain name.

Brands and trade marks

Obvious to many but perhaps not to all, be careful not to use a name that includes a confectionery brand name that might be trade marked. For example we would be concerned about naming a sweet shop Smarties Sweet Shop without checking what the situation is. Another one to be careful of is choosing a name which is already registered as a sweet shop name. We would imagine that Mr Simms Olde Sweete Shoppe would be an example as might SugarCane.

Testing testing

It costs nothing to test the name that you choose for your sweet shop. Ask a few friends, relatives, parents outside school, locals in the pub or a group of children if they are the focus. Make sure that they understand your sweet shop name, can say it, spell it, like it and know what the shop is likely to sell!

Taking the time to test sweet shop and chocolate shop names is really important to ensure that you don’t make a school boy error!

Ensure consistency

Whatever name you decide to choose for your sweet shop or chocolate shop, the most important thing is to be consistent throughout your presentation and communication. Stick to the same name, same presentation and same logo in everything that you do. If you have a traditional image, make sure that all elements of your shop and presentation are traditional too. This will help to get a crystal clear message across to your target audience and in return, sell more confectionery.

The list you have been waiting for!

And finally, the list of common words or phrases associated with confectionery shop names that we have promised you. Many are just words so they might hopefully spark off other ideas for sweet shop names in your mind – that is the intention. Good luck with your new venture and do please use all aspects of Sweet Retailing to develop your fledgling confectionery business.