This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Bloomies below in the comments.

If Macy's (NYSE: M) is the crossroads of all department stores, then Bloomingdale's is the Eastside hub of the cosmopolitan individual. At one time the old slogan, "All cars transfer to Bloomingdale's," beat Macy's to the chase as New York City's 58th Street subway station on the Lexington Avenue line was built in its basement in 1913.

The flagship store is located at 59th and Lex, where the surrounding affluent neighborhood used to supply most of its shoppers, particularly in the early 1970s. Even today, the fashion bonanza exhibited in its store windows draws a crowd while the gleaming black and white art deco interior lures shoppers in the door.

The department store chain has long since spread around the country, but Bloomingdale's has remained a draw for younger professionals seeking exciting new fashion trends. It's not surprising that at some point its hip, young clientele started affectionately calling it "Bloomies."

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about the Tiffany Network below in the comments.

If CBS Corp.'s (NYSE:CBS) nickname The Tiffany Network were newly coined, I'd speculate that it referred to the long history of Tiffany's, and how the current CBS viewing public had probably begun shopping there back in the '20s. If the company has a more recently gained nickname, it would be the silver (-haired) network, due to the skewing of its viewership toward the geezer crowd.

In reality, the Tiffany moniker hearkens back to the CBS of radio's heyday and the early days of television. With the likes of Edward R. Murrow reporting from London during the Blitz, Orson Wells scaring the bejebus out of listeners with his broadcast of The War of the Worlds, the hit multi-cultural comedy I Love Lucy, and the iconic western Gunsmoke, the network's reputation for quality was once as glittering as one of Tiffany's diamond-pavéd bracelets.

How the mighty have fallen. CBS, with debacles such as the Katie Couric news anchor stint, now lags behind Fox in weekly ratings.

The Tiffany Network is part of a massive entertainment company with fingers in television (66% of revenues), radio (remember radio?) (12%), outdoor advertising (16%), and publishing (6%). Yes, those are all very 20th century businesses. The question troubling current investors is just how the company will move into the 21st century without swapping all its diamonds for rhinestones?

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Needless Markup below in the comments.

Neiman Marcus may be the most successful upscale retail department chain that selected shoppers love to hold a grudge against.

The chain caters to primarily female, upper-income and upper-middle shoppers, and features designer lines that rival boutique (and beyond) price levels.

Further, while some of the products are decidedly exclusive, some are not or appear to not be, according to shoppers, but the prices of these items remain in the stratosphere, and it is for this reason that the store was tagged with the nickname "Needless Markup."

Here's a classic example. About a year ago Marie Lang, sister of yours truly, was searching for a leather shoulder bag. She found a medium brown, designer bag she liked for $1,200 at Neiman Marcus. However, being a discerning/critical comparison shopper, Marie of course took a few days to scout the competition.

The result? She found a comparable shoulder bag at Bloomingdale's for $595. Had she been willing to take a slightly smaller bag, she could have secured one for $395.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Whole Paycheck below in the comments.

Having long shopped at overpriced gourmet foods markets, I'll admit to having rolled my eyes a bit -- maybe even scoffed -- when I first heard the beloved nickname for Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), "Whole Paycheck." Of course, this was also when I was single and living on a dot-com boom-style income.

Today, I rarely shop at Whole Foods; there isn't one in my neighborhood, and it's true: it's not difficult to spend upwards of $100 on ingredients for one meal. While there are choices on the lower end of the price spectrum, especially in the company's 365 house brand line and seasonal produce, the grocery chain has long prided itself on providing a wide range of organic and gourmet ingredients; and if its customers demand star fruit from Brazil, stinky cheeses from around the globe, and sushi-quality tuna, by all means, Whole Foods will provide it, and won't bat an eye about charging for its hard work.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about the $100 store below in the comments.

You know you do it. You walked into Costco (NASDAQ: COST) to save some money on one thing -- just one little thing. In our minds, we do all sorts of calculations. We see ourselves saving money instead of what we're actually doing, spending money. An hour later we walk out loaded down with bulk bargains -- and $100 lighter. That's where Costco gets its increasingly popular nickname: The $100 Store.

Bloggers and consumers have been using the unflattering "$100 store" nickname for a while. And, it turns out they are right. A recent Christian Science Monitor story cites a statistic from the Food Institute: the average visit to a warehouse club costs $93.

The $100 spending phenomena may be a universal phenomena in any of the big-box discounters. But one Harvard professor thinks the membership fees at Costco (and other warehouse clubs) make us think we're getting a better deal than we are. Michael I. Norton, an assistant professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School, says that the presence of fees make people think they're getting a special discount and then they spend more.

"The presence of fees can drive choice of retail outlets, such that stores with membership fees are more popular even when they offer the same goods at the same prices as stores without fees," Norton writes in his working paper. Maybe that idea of paying to shop somewhere was crazy after all.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about BK below in the comments.

Is there any advertising icon more creepy than the Burger King (NYSE: BKC) King? I get nightmares myself every time the mascot appears on the small screen. My opinion, though, may be in a minority since the character seems to be wildly popular.

Unlike McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Burger King isn't afraid to be edgy and even annoying. I always have to turn the volume down on my TV whenever a BK spot is on the air or my ears will start to bleed otherwise. Burger King tried being like McDonald's and got its butt kicked. I am old enough to remember when the king was a cuddly cartoon. That strategy has now shifted and all of the in-your-face marketing appears to be paying off.

Shares of the number two burger chain are up 17% over the past year as cash-strapped consumers forgo casual dining chains for fast food. Wall Street analysts consider the stock a buy. The company is expected to post earnings of 34 cents per share on revenue of $633.26 million when it reports results Aug. 21, according to Thomson Reuters. Those are respectable numbers especially given the current economic environment.

All is not completely calm in Whopper land. Franchisees are balking at new late-night hours, and the Miami company, like every food business, is being slammed by high commodities prices. But at the end of the day, Mel Brooks had it right in History of the World Part I: "It's good to be the king."

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac below in the comments.

How did Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (FHLMC) get their nicknames -- Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE)?

According to Fannie Mae's website, its formal name is no longer Federal National Mortgage Association. It appears that the nickname took over the formal name. The reason? To "eliminate confusion among investors and consumers alike regarding various names in use for Fannie Mae." As a result, on January 6, 1997, Fannie Mae's stock started being listed under the name Fannie Mae rather than Federal National Mortgage Association.

Slate gets the award for offering an explanation of the source of the nicknames. I cannot improve on its explanation, which is as follows: "FNMA got its moniker because of its acronym; when you try to pronounce it as a word, it comes out sounding something like 'Fannie Mae.' When it came time to nickname the competitor, however, FHLMC didn't naturally sound like a recognizable name. 'Freddie,' then, is a take on 'federal,' and 'Mac a reference to the terminal 'MC.'"

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Tar-Zhay below in the comments.

Have Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) shoppers all of a sudden become French citizens? In the last decade or so, I've heard many, many people refer to the discount retailer as "Tar-Zhay," instead of the boring "Target." Where did that pronunciation come from, you ask?

There are opinions all over on this one, but one strikes me the best. Target, despite its discount niche, has also become a favorite destination for fashion-savvy consumers who might otherwise shop at high-end boutiques -- except for the fact they want a good deal. The French accent is a way of poking good-natured fun at the apparent sophistication of Target's deal-seeking shoppers.

In fact, Target carries much of the same discount, commodity stuff we buy at other retailers, but markets that merchandise in a cheerful and upscale way. The shopping experience, is clean, bright, and cheerful. Just look at the gleaming floors in your local SuperTarget and the white and red colors that make it seem like a test for the senses rather than a dull retailer. Bonjour, Tar-Zhay practically flows off the tongue, as a result.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Big Blue below in the comments.

Although there shall probably always remain unanswered speculation as to exactly how the nickname came to be, most people in business or industry today know, when you mention Big Blue, you're talking about IBM, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM). It's a name that invokes a respect of power, much in the same way that motorists pull aside for a fire engine or stop for a moving train. As reflected in the three letter company logo, Big Blue is solid and steady, yet quite on the move.

People have attributed the company nickname to a past company dress code, when employees were required to wear white shirts and most of them wore blue suits. That theory seems a bit shallow to me. Besides, that policy was done away with in the 1990s by CEO, Lou Gerstner. Since that time, I haven't noticed anyone calling IBM, Big Business Casual.

A second theory about the company moniker follows a more logical theme. It relies on the fact that IBM uses blue for its company logo and equipment, blue being a color that denotes strength. People also naturally associate blue with largeness, similar to the sky, the oceans, and even outer space. When used in context, people just know what big company you're talking about when you use the name. For instance, if I asked my step-mom; "How are you and Big Blue doing?" she'd immediately know I was referring to one of her independent engineering contracts with IBM.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about HoJo's below in the comments.

Howard Johnson's and its 28 flavors gave mid-20th-century Americans a view of the future: choice. In a time of eight-color boxes of Crayolas and three television stations, the implication of HoJo's abundance fired our imaginations. Though the restaurant chain had been in business since 1925, it took off during the depression when the founder adopted the now-traditional Cape Cod building with an orange roof topped by a weather vane of Simple Simon and the Pieman.

The company was also among the first to franchise, a major contributor to its growing success. With the advent of the national freeway system in the 1950s, Howard Johnson's quickly monopolized the rest stops and exits, making it larger than Micky D's, the King, and the Colonel combined.

Part of its success was in devising better prepackaged foods and a standardized menu, allowing the common Joe to work the grill. By 1954, the chain had grown to 400 restaurants, large enough to support expansion into the motor lodge business, catering to the increasingly mobile American traveler.

In the '60s, HoJos served more food to Americans than anyone except the U.S. Army. By the time the descendants of the founder sold the firm in 1980 to Imperial Group, the chain included 1,000 restaurants and 500 motor lodges.