Bad Ass Coffee franchise changes name to appease conservative clientele

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In the latest flap over a Bad Ass Coffee cafe, the owner of one in conservative Thousand Oaks, Calif. has decided to change the name of his establishment in a bid to attract more customers.

Narinder Kumar said he renamed his establishment Royal Aloha Coffee "to make the community happy."

The quirky name of the Salt Lake City-based company has been a source of amusement as well as public outrage across the country -- from pickets in Alabama to boycott threats in Arizona.

The Bad Ass Coffee Co. is an international chain with 60 gourmet coffee stores specializing in Hawaiian brew, including 53 locations in the United States.

The name comes from the donkeys that once hauled coffee beans out of the hills of Hawaii. Because donkeys are cantankerous animals, the locals dubbed them "bad ass donkeys."

The company says no other locations have changed the name. But three stores have closed in the past year -- another one in Ventura County, Calif., and two in Florida.

Some people blame it on the name, but Connie Alexakos, vice president of marketing for Bad Ass Coffee, points to the economy.

"People are spending their money on other things, like their mortgage," Alexakos said. "We're hoping we can make it through the recession with the stores we have."

The recession has been anything but sweet for most coffee houses, which have battled freefalling sales, store closures and increased competition from McDonald's gourmet brew.

But during challenging economic times, an offensive name could be the breaking point for a business. Naomi Finkel, marketing consultant and owner of Say It With Words in Ventura County, said she has heard only negative things about the name.

"No one liked 'Bad Ass' at all," she said. "I think it's a good change for the community."

But Paul Farkas, owner of a nearby indoor rock-climbing site, was surprised to hear people were upset.

"I can think of some things that are far more offensive," Farkas said. "I like their coffee -- that's the bottom line."

He said thought Bad Ass was catchy and memorable, but as a business owner, he understood Kumar's decision. Still, the new name is "so vanilla, I can't even remember it," he said.

The company's headquarters has received many complaints about the name since opening in 1989. "It's a concern to us, certainly," Alexakos said. "They say 'How can you put that name on the side of the building? I don't want to drive my 4-year-old by it.' "Kumar says he hasn't received a lot of complaints from the community since his franchise opened, but he added, "I believe a lot of people won't come to the coffee shop because of the name."

Now, he's hoping to win consumers over. He estimated that he is spending $6,000 to $7,000 to change the name, including switching the store's two exterior signs.

It's already paying off, with sales up 30 percent from last year, he said.

The store continues to serve the same American-grown, 100 percent Kona coffee and other Hawaiian coffee products as before.

When Kumar approached the company about changing the name of his store to Royal Aloha Coffee, "we thought it would be a good test," Alexakos said. The company owns both names and has been successful as Bad Ass Coffee, she said, adding that "we would never change the name of all our stores."

However, there have been limitations. For instance, the company has been approached by several airports about opening a store -- but only if a different name is used.

So far, Kumar has been the only franchisee to approach the company about a name change, Alexakos said.

"It's up to my neighborhood community to see if it was worth it," Kumar said. "I hope they appreciate it."

(Jenni Mintz is a reporter for the Ventura County Star in California.)