Welcome to Gaia! ::

THE NAME:
Bill, Frank, and I sat in the kitchen going through the phone book. Bill wanted the name "Appleby's" from the beginning but this name was taken according to Georgia State Incorporations. Just two weeks before I called the state to reserve the name, someone else had registered the name Appleby's. We had to do something to use the name Appleby's. My intent was to always make Bill happy.

I researched this to find out that a new restaurant was opening at Shannon Mall in South Atlanta under the name Appleby's. Next I tried the name Cinnamon's. It was taken too. I tried a third name, Peppers. It was also taken. I called the state and asked if I put initials in front of Applebys and changed the spelling would it be accepted? The state representative said yes so I reserved the name "T. J. Applebee's, Inc." (Of course at this point in our lives Bill liked the name "TJ". In fact, when the Tj was dropped, Bill told me that it was odd sounding as just "Applebee's".)