A coffee shop has a bikini dress code that the female boss claims is “empowering” but a city councilman has argued exploits women.
The uniform sees the women don bikinis or underwear, with some choosing to simply have colorful stickers over their nipples, as they serve coffee from a stand in Washington.
Bikini Beans Espresso is owned by entrepreneur Carlie Jo and has seen huge success — possibly due to the dress code.
Ratings have soared on Yelp and customers regularly leave comments about the staff online.
Although the risky uniform has received criticism, the owner is adamant that it empowers women.
On the shop’s website, she writes about the branch in Arizona: “As the first bikini barista shop in Arizona, we want to empower women to be, and feel good about, themselves.
“Women everywhere have the right to vote, to be gay, to be successful community leaders and business owners, or even run for president!
“We have the right to work with grace, confidence and dignity, regardless if it’s in a business suit, scrubs, or a bikini.”
A large number of the clientele do appear to be men, but not all men in the local area have been won over by the uniform choice.
City councilman Mike Fagan tried to bring in limitations on the stands, arguing they promote the exploitation of women.
While appearing on a YouTube video for Zagat, he said: “It should be all about the coffee and not about the body.
“Having frequented at least one time in each of these shops, just to see what the consumer is subjected to, we’re talking about three stickers strategically placed – and I’ll leave it up to everybody else’s imagination as to where those stickers are placed.
“I don’t want to pound on the ‘it’s for the children’ argument, but that is what it’s all about.”
A local mom agreed, telling how she had to explain to her children why the women had no tops on, and why men were queuing up for the coffee.
But staff members have defended what they do, with one saying whole families come to visit her whichever shop she is in.
She said she believed people are “just trying to find another thing to be offended by.”
On Sunday, a thousand naked swimmers bared all as they joined the fifth annual Sydney Skinny ocean swim and leaped into the sea with abandon.
Last year, a calendar featuring naked farm girls caused a sensation in rural communities across Germany.
