Seattle ? Lori Pacchiano needed a catchy brand name for her high-end pet-products business. “High Maintenance Dog” didn’t have the right ring to it, and “High Maintenance Mutt” might offend pure-bred owners.

When her brother and business partner Ryan suggested “High Maintenance Bitch,” she knew they had a winner.

Since the two founded the company in 2002, Pacchiano’s products have been purchased by celebrities including Oprah, Debra Messing and John Travolta. The products – collars that look like feather boas, dog makeup, custom-made $2,500 sofas and $45,000 diamond dog earrings – are available on a Web site and in the company’s Seattle retail store.

She has heard a few complaints about the name before, but Pacchiano, 36, was surprised by the reaction when they opened a store in the Seattle suburb of Wallingford and erected a sign.

The bottom third of the sign is taken up by the word “Bitch” in black letters on a white background.

“It’s a big sign,” says Janet Stillman, executive director of the Wallingford Neighborhood Office, a community association. “And that word takes up most of the sign.”

Stillman says that in the month the store has been open, her office has fielded more than a dozen complaints from residents. Store clerk Kara Turner has heard some complaints as well. “But for every person who complains, there are three who love the name,” she says.