topless67
Forum Member
I found this article interesting. Wonder how long they'll last? No criticism here, but you can see it coming...
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/is_michigan_ready_for_bikini_b.html
Want some sugar with that cup of joe?
Whatever you make of the concept, the Hot Spot Coffee Co., a new chain of drive-through coffee shops with locations in Brighton, Waterford and Troy, give it points for novelty -- its servers are thin young women in lingerie and bikinis.
Hot Spot's owners expected controversy and got it. But since anyone can buy a cup of coffee anywhere, no publicity is bad publicity, right?
Despite some eye-rolling from local officials and skepticism from residents, the Troy location has been successful since getting a makeover in May, the owners report. The Brighton shop, which opened this week, has been controversial as well, but business is brisk.
Some people in these communities argue the chain's signage is distasteful (promotions include Topless Tuesdays, Bottomless Wednesdays and Fantasy Fridays), but provocative or not, no laws have been broken. Co-owner Brenda Zelda said anyone who doesn't like the idea shouldn't buy coffee there.
"We're not like we're in your living room like a Victoria's Secret commercial. We respect people's feelings. If they don't want to bring their children here, we respect that," she told the Oakland Press.
Capitalism is sexy like that, isn't it?
The "bikini barista" or "sexpresso" concept first appeared in Seattle in the early 2000s -- gotta compete with Starbucks somehow -- and has moved East. The operations usually consist of small roadside stands or shops with names such as Grab-N-Go and Java Juggs that tend to court controversy wherever they open.
A prostitution scandal rocked a Washington establishment last year. A business in Colorado called Perky Cups closed this summer following a campaign of boycotts.
The naysayers are overreacting to the newest Hot Spot location, Zelda told the Livingston Daily Press & Argus. "I don't believe people should be judging, hating, until they come by and see what we're doing," she said. "We are shaking things up a little in a town where things needed to be shaken up."
Fair enough. But how's the coffee?
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/is_michigan_ready_for_bikini_b.html
Want some sugar with that cup of joe?
Whatever you make of the concept, the Hot Spot Coffee Co., a new chain of drive-through coffee shops with locations in Brighton, Waterford and Troy, give it points for novelty -- its servers are thin young women in lingerie and bikinis.
Hot Spot's owners expected controversy and got it. But since anyone can buy a cup of coffee anywhere, no publicity is bad publicity, right?
Despite some eye-rolling from local officials and skepticism from residents, the Troy location has been successful since getting a makeover in May, the owners report. The Brighton shop, which opened this week, has been controversial as well, but business is brisk.
Some people in these communities argue the chain's signage is distasteful (promotions include Topless Tuesdays, Bottomless Wednesdays and Fantasy Fridays), but provocative or not, no laws have been broken. Co-owner Brenda Zelda said anyone who doesn't like the idea shouldn't buy coffee there.
"We're not like we're in your living room like a Victoria's Secret commercial. We respect people's feelings. If they don't want to bring their children here, we respect that," she told the Oakland Press.
Capitalism is sexy like that, isn't it?
The "bikini barista" or "sexpresso" concept first appeared in Seattle in the early 2000s -- gotta compete with Starbucks somehow -- and has moved East. The operations usually consist of small roadside stands or shops with names such as Grab-N-Go and Java Juggs that tend to court controversy wherever they open.
A prostitution scandal rocked a Washington establishment last year. A business in Colorado called Perky Cups closed this summer following a campaign of boycotts.
The naysayers are overreacting to the newest Hot Spot location, Zelda told the Livingston Daily Press & Argus. "I don't believe people should be judging, hating, until they come by and see what we're doing," she said. "We are shaking things up a little in a town where things needed to be shaken up."
Fair enough. But how's the coffee?
