Name of a company! | Dreaming of a sunny Monday

There are company names that say it all and others that are… more mysterious. The Press take advantage of the summer to tell the origin of these sometimes very well-known names.

“Are you a travel agency?” This question has been asked a few times to Olivier Martinez, co-owner of Lundis au soleil. However, he does not sell stays in the tropics, but rather serves wine, beer and Mediterranean-inspired dishes.

Finding the name for this neighborhood refreshment bar located on Jarry Street was no easy task for Mr. Martinez and his two partners. “We had to lock ourselves in a chalet. And we told ourselves that we wouldn’t come out until we had found a name,” he says, seated at a table in his restaurant on a beautiful sunny Monday, a happy coincidence. Everywhere, little red suns blend into the decor, on the menu, on the window.

After creating a Google Docs file where all the ideas were written down, the trio racked their brains for two days. “We didn’t want it to be someone’s name, we wanted something that would evoke relaxation, conviviality, a holiday atmosphere.”

Weariness and discouragement eventually set in within the team… until Mr. Martinez threw out an idea, without much conviction. “I had just seen a Spanish film called The moons on the sun. When I threw this name to my associates, I saw a spark in their eyes.”

What’s more, they originally intended to close shop on Mondays, precisely to allow themselves to spend time in the sun.

And while doing some research, the partners realized that in addition to the title of a film, the name chosen for their establishment also referred to the title of a song by Claude François, Monday in the sun. “It works very well because in the lyrics he envies people who can be in the sun on Mondays.”

Hard to understand?

Once the name was found, however, the small team had no idea how people would react. “It’s long, it’s maybe a little complicated, will people understand? We didn’t know how the name would live on,” admits Olivier Martinez.

“Customers, once they’ve experienced it, they understand very well,” he noted afterwards. “It’s more when you talk about it to people who don’t know the place that it’s more complicated.”

If the name seems long, the co-owner points out that it can easily be shortened “by making it your own.” “A lot of people say, ‘I’m going to Les Lundis.’ Or you can abbreviate it by saying LAS. It evokes a kind of weariness. Let’s be at the beach.”

And the questions surrounding the name didn’t stop there, since the owners of the bar decided to change the schedule… and to open on Mondays. It was becoming more difficult for them to get employees to come in on Sundays.

“We asked ourselves questions. What does this imply? Are we losing coherence? Who is in the sun, finally?”

It was Claude François who came to their rescue, says Mr. Martinez. “He says in his song that sunny Mondays are something we’ll never have. Finally, we came to this conclusion: even we couldn’t have them!”