Alternative Living Services to become 'Alterra'.

Alternative Living Services has announced plans to change its name to Alterra Healthcare Corp.

William Lasky, president and CEO of the Brookfield, Wisconsin-based assisted living provider, said in a prepared statement that the new name "allows us to unify all of the company's expanding products and services, including its 365 operating locations.

"This marketing strategy will leverage the company's leading national presence," Lasky continued. "The company's various assisted living residence model types [Clare Bridge, Wynwood, Sterling House, WovenHearts, and Crossings] will continue to provide customers with options--but under the unified Alterra brand name."

Although industry analysts say it's about time that ALS began developing some brand equity, The Alterra Coffee Roasting Co. of Milwaukee isn't pleased with ALS' choice of name. Ward Fowler, one of Alterra Coffee's owners, told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was planning to speak with ALS about changing it.

Lasky told the Journal Sentinel he's standing his ground. The name was selected, he said, because it has the same first five letters as "alternative." In addition, "terra" represents a sound grounding or firm foundation for the company, he explained. And the "alter" portion of the word suggests how the company has "altered" the way frail senior citizens are cared for. It's also less cumbersome than Alternative Living Services, he noted.

The coffee folks were going for a very different association: Fowler says the name was chosen because of its similarity to "altura," which means height, because the best coffees are grown at high elevations.