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Brewlesque Has Yakima Yakking Over Sexpresso Marketing
0 Comments Published by info July 30th, 2008 in SEXPRESSO COFFEE CHAINS
A story appearing in the The Yakima Herald reports that the latest skirmish in the sexpresso coffee wars has erupted in Yakima, WA. Brewlesque drive-thru coffee is the newest addition to the growing trend of coffee kiosks featuring scantily clad baristas providing a titillating shot of flirtation with the morning brew. And both competitors and some local residents are plenty steamed.
According to the Herald:
“Brewlesque, a drive-thru espresso stand located next to Mel’s Diner on North First Street, is Yakima’s first foray into the bikini bar craze that is sweeping the Northwest.
“But, there’s a twist.
“Instead of skimpy bikinis, the baristas ply their trade in bawdy bustiers and corsets reminiscent of burlesque.
“Owner Vicki Gibson said the stand, which opened last month, is doing so well that she’s on the verge of opening a second one later this month, on Rudkin Road in Union Gap.
“We’re not just getting people in there to look at the girls,” she said. “They’re also getting great coffee while they’re there.”
Where’d the Burlesque idea come from?
Gibson said she got the idea a couple years ago while visiting her daughter, who lives in Hollywood and has some dancer friends who work at a retro burlesque review.
A former real estate agent, Gibson also owned and operated a coffee shop called Cuppa Giddyup in the late 1990s.
Gibson said she finds the burlesque twist “classier” than bikinis and that she has no trouble finding and keeping baristas. She has five employees at her current site and is not worried about finding five more for the planned site on Rudkin Road.
Opposition - Surprise, Surprise - Abounds
From the Herald Article: “Amy Lighthall, owner of Got Coffee? on Summitview Avenue, makes her feelings known on a reader sign facing the street just west of 32nd Avenue. It reads, “No lingerie, just great coffee.”
“The way Lighthall sees it, Brewlesque is not a good fit with the pace of life in Yakima
“‘I don’t want coffee served from a girl in her panties,’ she said. ‘Plenty of people do, I guess. To each their own.’”
Sexpresso Trend Continues
The “sexpresso” shop has been gathering steam in the Northwest, with such concepts as Cowgirl Espresso, Bikini Coffee Company, and Java Jigglers.
The continued growth of the sexpresso fad comes on the heels of Starbucks announcement that it will be closing 600 stores nationwide, including 19 stores in Washington.
Relentless marketer Sean Kelly is a 20 year veteran of the franchise industry, and founder of the award-winning marketing firm IdeaFarm.
In 2006, he founded the FranBest franchise network, best franchise opportunities, the top new franchises, franchise marketing, franchise public relations and small business marketing.
Contact him at seankelly[at]ideafarm.net.
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0 Comments Published by info July 8th, 2008 in MISC. COFFEE FRANCHISES
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Dunn Bros. Coffee Franchise Closing
0 Comments Published by info June 29th, 2008 in DUNN BROS. FRANCHISEAccording to Bizjournals, Wichita franchisee Jim Korroch is closing his Dunn Bros. Coffee franchise:
Hotel owner Jim Korroch is closing his Dunn Bros. Coffee Shop franchise at his Courtyard by Marriott — Wichita at Old Town. He says he is closing, in part, to avoid competing with the changes that the Marriott has planned for its breakfast offerings, which will include adding “grab-and-go” items like Danishes and upgrading its coffee lines…
Korroch says he wasn’t getting the rate of return that he had hoped when he opened Dunn Bros.
Dunn Bros. also has franchises in the Midwest, including about 75 locations scattered throughout Minnesota.
SEXPRESSO: Are Nude Baristas Adult Entertainers?
0 Comments Published by info June 23rd, 2008 in SEXPRESSO COFFEE CHAINS(FranchisePick.Com) Related Stories: SexPresso Coffee Marketing Steams Clothed Competitors
Hooters Plus Starbucks Equals The Next Big Franchise
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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Photo credit: Newscom
Cuppy’s Coffee to Open in Charlotte, NC
0 Comments Published by info June 23rd, 2008 in Uncategorized(FranchisePick.Com) According to the Charlotte Observer, Mohammed and Bouchra Iblidi are preparing to open Charlotte, NC’s first Cuppy’s Coffee:
A Cuppy’s Coffee Cafe will open this summer on North Tryon Street near Withrow Downs.
Work has started on the restaurant in the Withrow Downs Plaza, near Pavilion Boulevard, said franchise co-owner Mohammed Iblidi.
Iblidi hopes to open for business in early August.
“I think with the speedway and the Pavilion and all of the traffic there on North Tryon and the community there, there is demand for a cafe-style coffee shop,” Iblidi said.
Cuppy’s Coffee Cafes offer hot and cold coffee drinks and all-fruit smoothies, plus limited food items.
Iblidi said Cuppy’s lets franchise owners tailor their shops so they feel more like boutique coffee cafes than national chains.
“It definitely is going to be something that is a little bit more local, with more of a Charlotte feel than a standardized Starbucks or Caribou (Coffee),” he said.
Iblidi and his wife, Bouchra, co-own the Cuppy’s Coffee Cafe, Charlotte’s first.
He came to Charlotte about 15 years ago from Lansing, Mich. His wife came here eight years ago from Morocco. They live in University City.
The troubled Cuppy’s Coffee organization was acquired two months ago by Fransynergy amidst continuing complaints of franchises not opening in a timely fashion and franchisees not being able to get their refundable fees returned, many as high as $40,000.
Cuppy’s Coffee on FranchisePick.com:
Cuppy’s Coffee, Elite Manufacturing Franchise Complaint on Rip-off Report
Cuppy’s Coffee Franchise, Elite Manufacturing: More Angry Allegations
Real Franchise Horror Stories From the Owners Living Them
Does Cuppy’s Coffee or Elite Manufacturing Owe You Money?
Cuppy’s Coffee on Unhappy Franchisee:
Robyn & Corey Rivera - Java Jo’z / Cuppy’s Coffee
Cuppy’s Coffee, Medina Enterprises, Elite Manufacturing Sold
To Cuppy’s Coffee and Elite Manufacturing…
Cuppy’s Coffee / Elite Manufacturing Infuriates Franchisees With Form Email
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