What’s in a name? A small fortune for businesses around Fort Bragg

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — When it came to a picking a name for his business, Ralph Rodriguez rolled the dice. He went with Fort Liberty Pawn & Gun.

It’s going to cost him about $30,000.

“That’s signage, uniforms, stationery, business cards, advertising, and state licensing changes and federal changes,” he said.

When he was filing his incorporation papers last fall, Rodriguez knew one of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises was to restore the names of Confederate officers — like Gen. Braxton Bragg — to military installations rebranded under the Biden administration. But it seemed to Rodriguez that he should go with the installation’s name as it was at the time.

“We were trying to attach ourselves to the military base and show support for them, because we know that’s going to be our customers,” he said with a shrug. “I could care less about Braxton Bragg.”

Less than a month into Trump’s second term, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the installation rechristened Fort Bragg, this time in honor of World War II paratrooper Roland Bragg of Maine.

Two things immediately went through Rodriguez’s mind.

“The first thing I said was, `It’s going to be expensive.’ And the second thing was, `Who’s going to get mad about THIS?’”

People were telling Rodriguez he should call his shop Fort Bragg Pawn & Gun even before Trump won the election. After all, it’s located on Fort Bragg Road.

Then shortly before the grand opening in December, someone vandalized his sign.

“We came to work and we seen a yellow line across the `Liberty,’” he said.

Rodriguez is used to catching flak for his Michigan roots or the peace sign tattoo on his right arm. And then there’s his wife’s crystal shop next door.

“My customers call her side the `liberal containment center,’” he said with a chuckle.

And what do her customers call his?

“`Trumpers,’” he said. “Or, you know, `mega gun nuts.’”

As a sop to her husband’s clientele, Hannah Rodriguez carries a few stones carved in the shape of pistols and hand grenades.

“Crystals and pistols,” she said with a giggle.

But when it comes to Bragg vs. Liberty, it’s no laughing matter.

“Look, there’s no middle ground in Fayetteville. They’re extremely either right or left,” Ralph Rodriguez said. “If you tilt one way or another man, you’re going to lose customers … But we would definitely have lost more if we would have kept it Fort Liberty Pawn and Gun.”

Several other businesses in and around Fayetteville also went with Liberty, including the local federal credit union. It has already changed back, though it will take a while to redo all the signs.

At least one company is sticking with the name Liberty.

“We came up with this whole name based on the alliteration, because I’m a big writer geek,” said Sabrina Soares, broker in charge at the real estate firm Fort Liberty Living. “So, we’re probably just going to keep it as is.”

In 2023, the state spent $163,000 to change all the Fort Bragg highway signs to Fort Liberty. Switching them back is expected to run over $200,000.

Rodriguez figures he got off easy.

On a recent sultry afternoon, retired Army officer and mayoral candidate Freddie de la Cruz stopped by to chat and check up on a purchase: a semiautomatic 12-gauge shotgun, painted with the Stars and Stripes, which he’s planning to raffle off.

He said Rodriguez shouldn’t be so hard on himself.

“It was a smart move there,” he said. “At the time.”

Retired Army Master Sgt. Sidney High said he has no problem coming into a shop called Fort Liberty.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” he said, resting his cola on a glass gun case. “I call it Fort Bragg all the time anyway. So, it doesn’t make any difference to me.”

Rodriguez figures it will take about six months to get everything switched over. He’s looking forward to putting this chapter behind him.

“I just want to be in business,” he said. “I want to be happy. I want everybody else to be happy. And it’s hard. It’s hard, and you can’t keep both sides happy.”

Just to be safe, he’s keeping both names on the paperwork.