Coffee shop owner faces jail over scantily clad waitresses...

Sheer cheek of it all! Coffee shop owner faces jail because waitress was too scantily clad

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:34 AM on 6th February 2011

A coffee shop owner faces up to 90 days in jail because one of her waitresses was too scantily clad.

Cheryl Clark, who runs Dreamgirls Expresso, was found guilty of violating the local indecent exposure ordinance for having one of her 'bikini baristas' wear sheer shorts while serving up coffee in Yakima, Washington state.

According to the police, not only were the shorts sheer, they didn't cover enough of her buttocks.

A barista in action at the Dreamgirls Expresso coffee shop in Yakima, Washington, where the owner was found guilty of violating local indecent exposure regulations

Clark is due to be sentenced on February 18.

Shops with baristas in bikinis have been cropping up all over Washington state in recent years as small independent coffee shops struggle to compete with the major chains. One place was even featuring pole dancing for a short time.

'I think that it's creative marketing that really grabbed some attention,' said Kate Reardon, spokeswoman for the city of Everett, where one coffee shop was accused of exchanging sexual favours for money.

In Yakima, about 100 miles south east of Seattle, publicly wearing G-strings and see-through clothing is forbidden.

Flesh in the pan? Biikini-clad baristas have become increasingly popular in the last couple of years, but some see it as a craze that's soon to die out

But efforts to control bikini barista shops through ordinances on what waitresses can wear have run into hurdles over defining what is decent or indecent attire.

Bob Phibbs, author of The Retail Doctor's Guide To Growing Your Business believes the barista-bikini craze will be a short-lived fad.

"Your money's in professional people going to work. It's not in people hanging out looking at naked bodies," he said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354150/Coffee-shop-owner-faces-jail-bikini-clad-barista.html#ixzz1DBVChwXl