Coffee wars brewing over new espresso stand

It's not the first business to feature scantily dressed women serving coffee. It's just the first in Yakima.

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."

Not everyone in the industry shares her point of view. To some competitors, bikini bars are a degrading and tacky trend in an industry dominated by women.

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."

Also known as "sexpresso" shops, bikini bars have been cropping up around the Northwest for several years now, particularly on the westside. There's even one in Ellensburg, Java Jigglers.

Ironically, the continued growth of the sexpresso fad comes on the heels of Starbucks announcing major store closures. Starbucks is closing 600 stores nationwide, including 19 stores statewide and one in Yakima, at 2203 S. First St.

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 real estate agent for Creekside Realty, 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.

Dave Vos, supervisor of the Cruisin Coffee shop on West Nob Hill Boulevard, said he's never had a barista ask to shed clothes for tips and doesn't believe most customers would appreciate the practice.

"It's a totally different customer base," he said of Brewlesque, adding, "I really doubt the soccer mom and her kids are going to go through there."

That's OK by Kaila Grant, a barista and manager at Brewlesque. Dressed in a bustier and sheer stockings, she said her costume is harmless fun and that her tips are definitely better.

The only downside, she joked, comes when she clocks out.

"Now when I get off work and I'm wearing regular clothes, I feel way overdressed," she laughed.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct erroneous information that appeared in the originally published version.

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