SexPresso Coffee Marketing Steams Clothed Competitors

(Franchise Pick: The Franchise Information Blog) It started as a novelty in the competitive Northwest, but it’s working so well that bikini-clad barista’s are manning more and more gourmet coffee drive-throughs. And that’s leaving their more traditional (and fully clothed) competitors hot under the collar. One story in the Everett, WA Herald reports:

Espresso drive-through stands with bikini- and lingerie-sporting baristas are popping up from Monroe to Edmonds.
In the past year, at least six of these java joints employing provocatively dressed young women have opened in the county.
A few owners of these roadside stands say business is so brisk, they’re hiring more employees and have plans to open new locations.
“I brought a touch of Vegas back to Washington,” said Bill Wheeler, who opened Grab ‘N’ Go Espresso on Highway 99 just south of Everett last year.
Wheeler says he aims to soon operate a dozen stands in Washington and Nevada, including one with male baristas in tight Speedos and bowties.
Sometimes wearing little more than pasties and bikini bottoms, the scantily clad baristas at Wheeler’s stands have scores of well-tipping customers.

[PICTURED: BRIDGETT WALSH, 18, serves another happy customer at Cowgirls espresso bar. Most of the baristas say they are paid around minimum wage, but they can add as much as $200 in tips during a seven-hour shift.]

The competition is cutthroat and there is immense pressure to stand out. In Snohomish County alone, there are 150 businesses that have espresso as part of their name. That’s not even counting Starbucks and McDonald’s. Many found that they had to go Sexpresso or close up shop:

The Defeated:

John Ferguson, coffee shop owner: “We saw our male clientele dwindle to next to nothing. It’s an ‘If-you-can’t-beat-’em,-join-’em kind of thing.’”

Carrie Smith, owner, Mocha Boat: “We had to close the stand or roll with it. I sold my soul for a dollar.” (Actually, more than a dollar. Business tripled after her employees started wearing more revealing outfits)

The Steamed:

Others are holding out, “displaying family-friendly signs and other messages including ‘We Make it Hot with our Tops On,’ ‘R-rated Coffee; PG-rated Girls’ and ‘Known 4 Coffee Not Cleavage!’”

Tina Taylor, Giddy Up ‘N’ Go Espresso “In my opinion, it’s the end of our business.” Sexpresso-style stands have cars lined up north and south of her; she’ll go an hour without a customer.

Ruth Oliver, owner, R & R Espresso: “I’m not turning my place into a strip club because business is down. I’d rather close down.”
Sara Barnfather, 22, a barista with Stars and Stripes Espresso, Everett: “If you like nipples and third-degree burns, go for it. But it’s not my cup of tea.”

Stars and Stripes owner Dale Fischer : “Do we really need scantily clad women to sell coffee? I’m just not for it. You get a different kind of customer altogether that go into those places.”

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Photo credit: newscom

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