Mr Blog

Mr Meats
Unit 3 FWB Industrial Estate
Whieldon Rd
Stoke-on-Trent ST4 4JP

Many thanks to Mr Jim Davies for drawing our attention to Mr Meats of Stoke-on-Trent. Mr Meats is a wholesaler and therefore has no shopfront as such for us to feature. However, his fleet of delivery trucks is very smartly presented.

There are some interesting typographic quirks in the design. Firstly, Mr Meats's policy of avoiding the comma introduces an ambiguity in the second line of his product description. Does he mean cheese pies, or cheese and pies?

My suspicion is that he means cheese (set A), pies (set B) as well as cheese pies (intersection of sets A and B). I base this on the self-confident 'etc' at the end, which suggests a superfluity of components in the product range.

Mr Meats also has an interesting policy when it comes to capitalisation. The italicised line "For Quality & Service where the customer Comes First" is notable for the way in which it opts for a lower case initial 'c' in "customers" – arguably the one word in the sentence that demands a respectful initial capital.

These are mere quibbles, however. The design of the trucksides is outstanding and this blog is dignified by their presence.

The image comes from the very professional Mr Meats website.

Dr A Suicide Bomber
[FALSE SIGHTING]

Just to be clear, Dr A Suicide Bomber does not exist. It was a mistake by Boots the Pharmacy.

As the unfairly maligned gentleman from Swansea explains, "For a start, I'm not even a doctor."

The video is worth viewing.

Spotted by Mr Tweets via Mr Jon Dennis on Twitter.

Mr Humbug
Euston Station Concourse
London NW1 2DU

Mr Tweets was very pleased with himself for spotting this while passing through Euston station yesterday on a business trip. In his excitement, he tweeted a picture there and then, rather than going through the proper processes.

According to my research, Mr Humbug originally opened in Norfolk, then moved to Greenwich, and is now expanding through a series of franchises. Mr Humbug has a fine website, enlivened by images of people with sweets on their faces. It also features the playful, if disconcertingly aggressive, strapline "suck it and see".

I'm afraid this picture isn't a very good one, inexplicably taken from the other side of the escalators rather than much closer to the shopfront.

Try to think before you act, Mr Tweets. This is another reason why you don't have many followers!

Mr Jerk (deceased)
187 Wardour St
London W1F 8ZB

I am sad to say that Mr Jerk has passed on since this photograph was taken.

Mr Jerk dedicated his life to the supply of spicy Caribbean food to the denizens of London's trendy Soho district.

During his heyday, friends described him as "mean, moody and magnificent", "no nonsense" and "a must for all the Caribbean massive".

When new owners took over in 2009, the change was too much for Mr Jerk. Reports suggest he faced his inevitable rebranding with quiet courage and stoicism.

Mr Jerk was a lifelong bachelor and leaves no children.

We are currently trying to trace members of Mr Jerk's extended family, including a cousin last seen living in Bayswater. (Mr Tweets, any progress on that?)

The Soho establishment is now known as Savannah Jerk.

Mr Kleen
92 Turnham Green Terrace
London W4 1QN

Following the recent cloacal theme and yesterday's somewhat unsavoury video, I thought we could all do with freshening up. And where better than Mr Kleen of Turnham Green? (A possible inspiration for a new rhyming shops blog.)

As evidenced in this photo, Mr Kleen enjoys a remarkably busy passing trade. Note also how the gentleman inside the store is immaculately turned out, while those outside apparently place personal appearance somewhat lower on their list of daily priorities.

Mr Tweets has made up a joke about Mr Kleen, which I have somewhat wearily agreed to repeat here.

– Hello, is that Mr Kleen? I have some stains on my cricket whites that simply won't shift. Where are you based?

– Turnham Green.

– Well, I'd rather get them cleaned if possible!

Mr Tweets, this is why you don't have many followers!

Mr Loo
68 Ecclestone Road
Wolverhampton WV11 2QB

Continuing yesterday's lavatorial theme, today we say a guarded hello to Mr Loo of Wolverhampton.

In an interesting innovation, we also bring you our first ever video content, in which Mr Loo cheerfully claims to be "number one in the number two business", based on his policy of giving "helpful and descriptive information during or before the job."

The video includes a fleeting shot of the Mr Loo logo, featuring a man in dungarees with a toilet for a head, holding a plunger in his left hand.

I am pleased to report Mr Loo was at home when we called round on Street View.

Dr Loo
Temporary structure
Sponds Hill
Cheshire SK10

Most of the research for this blog takes place using the Google Street View tool – a highly satisfactory and enjoyable way of working. Nevertheless, there is undeniably an extra frisson whenever a potential Mr Blogpost appears during our day-to-day travels.

Well, that is exactly what happened this weekend when Mr Tweets and I were out hiking together along the famous Gritstone Trail in Cheshire.

Situated near the summit of Sponds Hill, at 1,345 feet above sea level, this may be the highest sighting so far recorded on this blog. Keen readers will notice it is also our first qualified doctor – a reassuring qualification when one is in the business of supplying chemical toilets for outdoor events (in this case, a rather noisy rally-biking tournament).

As you can imagine, Mr Tweets and I were much heartened by this sighting and continued on our journey with an extra spring in our step. We celebrated with a pint of Robinsons at the end, although Mr Tweets only had a half as he was driving.

Footnote: Some readers may be interested to know whether Mr Tweets or I had call to use the facilities furnished by Dr Loo. We did not. From the outside, they looked clean and well-kept, although the four units were arguably placed unnecessarily close together – an effect heightened by the surrounding expanse of open moorland.

Mr Maggot Man
32 High Street
Warsop, Mansfield
Nottinghamshire NG20 0AG

Erm, Mr Maggot Man.

Mr Snappy
3a St. Thomas Street
Weymouth DT4 8EW

Looks a rather ordinary photo this, doesn't it? One of Mr Blog's more mundane posts, you might think. But you would think wrong.*

Here we see two masterpieces of naming, albeit very different in their strategies.

Mr Snappy is as good a name as you can get for a local high street photography shop. In two words, it implies:

– Friendly, personable service (Mr)
– Photography (Snappy)
– Fast turn-around (Snappy)

Kodak has no such rationale, but is brilliant all the same. The story goes that 'K' was the favourite letter of founder George Eastman. He rightly regarded it as a "strong, incisive sort of letter". He sat down with an anagram set aiming to come up with a name that was short, impossible to mispronounce, and would have no associations with anything but the brand itself. Kodak fitted all three criteria. And had two k's in it.

Admittedly, the addition of 'Imaging Centre' and 'Express Digital Solutions' dilute the effect in each case – an unfortunate sign of our times. Nevertheless, here we are witnessing two great moments in naming in one shopfront.

And you thought it was an ordinary photo. **

* (Apologies if you weren't thinking this)
** (Apologies if you didn't)

Mr Tweets spotted this lovely poster on Twitter, via his friend @the_partners

It falls outside the remit of this blog, which is concerned principally with shopfronts and businesses in the UK. But a dull traveller is he who has no time for deviations.

The poster was created by San Francisco-based art director Tor Weeks.

It is available for sale here.