SEXPRESSO: Are Nude Baristas Adult Entertainers?

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The concept called Sexpresso – scantily clad baristas serving expresso from drive-thru kiosks – is certainly one of the hot topics on America’s mind.  The hot new coffee trend has left one group in the Pacific Northwest especially steamed:  operators of drive-thru coffee kiosks who do NOT have scantily clad baristas. 

The power of the Unattractive Coffee Kiosk Operators (UCKO) lobby must be growing, as government officials are sending the message that if Sexpresso workers don’t cover up they may be classified as Sex workers.

According to Everett, WA- based Heraldnet:

In the past year, several espresso stands with provocatively dressed employees have opened in Snohomish County, including a few stands where baristas cover their breasts with little more than stickers.
Bonney Lake councilwoman Laurie Carter represents a district with two controversial coffee kiosks located on main roads through town.
“I hope that things will settle down now that we know where we stand,” Carter said.
The coffee businesses in Bonney Lake made national news and were the target of protests and angry testimony at City Hall.
One of the stands, Hot Chick-a-Latte, allowed female employees to essentially go topless, covering their breasts with hand-shaped pasties, electrical tape or scarves.
Bonney Lake city attorney James Dionne on Tuesday said the city can impose time, place and manner restrictions on adult entertainment businesses without violating First Amendment free expression rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
He said the city’s rules are modeled after an ordinance upheld by the state Supreme Court.
The city’s adult entertainment ordinance encompasses businesses that allow the exhibition of female breasts below the top of the areola.
Since the city has notified Hot Chick-a-Latte about its interpretation of the rule, the business has watered down its full-­bodied marketing gimmick, Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson said.

Hot Chick-a-Latte and Grab ‘N’ Go Espresso take a moral stand
Sexpresso operators like Hot Chick-a-Latte, Mocha Boat and Grab ‘N’ Go Espresso will concede to a point – but will not concede their first amendment right to add a little steam to their legal drug sales.  Baristas at Hot Chick-a-Latte and Mocha Boat have even started wearing bikini tops since the whole brewhaha erupted.  But Bill Wheeler says there are limits -  and he’s willing to defend his bikini baristas in the highest courts in the land, if need be:

Bill Wheeler owns Grab ‘N’ Go Espresso with locations in the county between Everett and Mukilteo, and hopes to soon operate a dozen stands in Washington and Nevada.
He said his baristas stopped donning pasties and now only wear bikinis and lingerie.
“We got tired of people whining about it,” he said.
Wheeler said he was asked by a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy to tone things down. He agreed, and said he understands law enforcement had more important things to do with their time than to police espresso stands.
But there are limits to how much he’s willing to change his business model.
“If they said you can’t wear bikinis, that’s something we would take to the highest court in the state, or higher, if we had to,” Wheeler said.

Hopefully, ex-Subway franchise owner Cousin Vinny Agnello – founder of Cousin Vinny’s Little Secret – will not get wind of this trend or the era of the scantily clad sub sandwich maker may be soon upon us.

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