If Biggby Was Renamed, Why Is This Sign Still Up In Downtown Lansing?

I drove past this the other day in Downtown Lansing and when I saw it I was like, "Oh man, they weren't lying to me about Biggby's old name".

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At the corner of Kalamazoo and Grand and right across the street from the CATA bus depot, there was an old sign bearing the old Bigbby name.

Wait, that was really Biggby's original name?

I have heard about it for years. From a least half a dozen people. I just had never looked it up. Until I looked up and saw it for myself.

Now, I had to take a picture and do some digging.

I looked on Twitter and found this.

How long, has this been going on?

Biggby's original name dates all the way back to the mid-1990s.

BEANER’S is the nation’s largest 100 percent operator-owned retail coffee franchise. The East Lansing, Mich.-based company began as a single location in 1995 and has since become one of the fastest-growing franchises in the industry. (Biggby)

And from a press release dated September 17th of 2007, that's when they decided to change their name for (what I do believe most of us can see) obvious reasons.

BEANER’S COFFEE, the third-largest retail coffee chain in the Midwest, today announces its plan to re-brand the company to BIGGBY COFFEE. As the company has grown from a single store to a regional chain, the need for a new name became evident amidst growing concerns over the use of the word “beaner” as a disparaging term against Hispanic Americans. (Biggby)

And apparently, the higher-ups in the company were not aware that the previous name was offensive at all.

Biggby Coffee CEO and co-founder Bob Fish chalks up gracing his stores with the name Beaner's to Midwest naivete.

 "Beaner's to us didn't mean anything but coffee," said Fish, whose firm changed the name of its stores in November. (MLive)

By the way, a little fun fact. The name Biggby (which I thought was someone's nickname) actually does have a meaning.

Company representatives conducted brand research for a year prior to this change, and chose the name Biggby Coffee due to the "big B" in the company's logo. (Wikipedia)

That's all well and good. You've done the right thing. But why's this still up?

It looks weathered and worn. It looks like it's been there for a while. I guess the real question is, does it look like it should come down? Painted over?

Why is it still there? For historical sake? Maybe no one feels it's a problem. Maybe it's on the side of a building and the owners want to keep it there.

Has no one spoken up yet? Should they?

Just surprised the coffee company hasn't done anything about it. I'm sure they know, right?

Right?

Nothing to see here? Move along?

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