There are many stories of Ellis Island name changes. Centuries of heritage were wiped out for something neat, short, and rather goyishe. Well, Sol Price was one of the few that lucked out.

Sol's Russian-born parents came to America with the last name of Preuss (or perhaps Press, it's not clear). A perfectly nice name, if you ask us. Yet on Ellis Island, it got anglicized to Price. As garish is that sounds, it actually played out nicely.

In 1976, after being forced out from his first discount department store business, Sol opened one with a revolutionary model. The name was perfect: Price Club. (Preuss Club doesn't make sense. Press Club? That's a tad different.)

Price Club is no more, merging with Costco in 1993. But Sol's legacy lives on; in fact, Sam Walton admitted to "borrowing" many of his ideas. So, perhaps, without Sol and his Price Club, there would be no Wal-Mart...

Did the rest of America luck out? We'll leave that open-ended.