Bruce,  One reason is marketing.  If one dealer in town is selling
Fischer, another can't.  But the other guy can sell Haines, Steck, etc.

Back in my apprenticeship we sold the Currier brand (cringe) under the
name Nathan Hale because another store already had the Currier line.
You could have any name you wished if you wanted to pay for the die to
make the decal.

Regards,

Jon Page
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)