Remember this? Here is Bellevue’s version:
- KOMO
Just days after it opened, the scantily-clad baristas at Knotty Bodies in Bellevue are getting some steam from city officials.
On Tuesday, city officials said they planned to shut down the business because it is not complying with city codes.
Code enforcement officers delivered two cease-and-desist orders. One said the stand’s curb-side ad is in violation of the city’s sign ordinance, and the other ordered the stand to close until the owner builds barriers around the drive-through lane.
“They told us if we continue to serve today, there is a $100 fine,” said one barista.
The baristas appeared unaffected by the warning, however, as they continued to serve customers using the drive-through lane.
Just after 5 p.m., code enforcement officers returned to the stand and put up orange cones around the drive-through lane at the stand, effectively shutting it down.
The article goes on to say that area residents filled a Monday night City Council meeting to complain about Knotty Bodies, and that Deputy Mayor Claudia Balducci “suggest[ed] shaming customers by taking pictures of them and then posting the photos online.”
Christ I’m glad I don’t live in Bellevue. Also, they couldn’t come up with a better name than Knotty Bodies?
h/t: Seattlepi.com
Neither of these ladies strike my fancy.
@43, You’re absolutely right, women have always been the driving force behind objectifying their sexuality.
I’m not sure how insulting it is to question the common sense of wearing a bikini virtually outside during a Washington winter. If they want to, that’s obviously their choice. But it doesn’t mean it’s a bright idea.
This whole enterprise is as dorky as Chip & Dale dancing, in my opinion.
@51: I think you mean “Chippendale.” Chippendale dancers are cheesy male strippers; Chip & Dale dancing would be squirrels grinding on cheering ladies.
That said, the latter is only a little more disturbing. Most Chippendale-style adverts look extremely gross to me. Lads! Ease off on the steroids, will you?
That’s not boobs, that’s cleavage. If the rest of their midriff was covered, no one would have anything to say about this. Half of Seattle’s coffee places have one or two girls in them that show that much cleavage, or more, on a daily basis.
And why all the concern about ‘objectifying, dehumanizing’ these girls for their bodies? Is it better that the be ‘objectified, dehumanized’ for their coffee making services? Because that’s what you’re doing every time you go into a coffee shop.
‘Feminism’ is broken because most ‘feminists’ have turned it into something that has nothing to do with femininity. I for one like the idea of a feminism that celebrates, you know, feminine things… And tits, well, they’re pretty feminine. I guess that makes me more of a feminist than the feminists.
@52: Chipmunks! Not squirrels.
Better looking than the tattooed butches at Cafe Vita.
“Feminism’ is broken because most ‘feminists’ have turned it into something that has nothing to do with femininity”
only in the US. French women know how to be feminine and strong, independent women. In Seattle feminism means dressing and talking like a fisherman.
It’s a win-win situation for both men and women, I don’t see what’s the big fuzz about it.
The world would be a better place with more boobs…
Pahaha, yeah, thanks 52. Chip & Dale dancing could be cute or creepy depending on the interpretation.
I think these espresso stands, and Hooters joints, are as tacky as Chippendale malarkey.
The world would be a better place with more boobs, but not like this.
@55, I much prefer the tattooed baristas at Cafe Vita, and not just because they actually know how to make a good latte.
@55, I much prefer the tattooed baristas at Cafe Vita, and not just because they actually know how to make a good latte.
Do they hire men?
I can’t see how gender in the case of this coffee stand would be a boni-fide occupational qualification, then benchmark for discriminating against gender.
If Bellevue really wants to shut them down, they should hire a guy to apply there, not get hired, and then sue the business for discrimination.
This could make an interesting case because the coffee house claims that it is like all the other coffee houses. How, then, could it refuse to hire men when men are employed at coffee houses across the nation? They would have to claim to be different than other coffee establishments, but this defeats their point.
They would have to hire the guy and their business would diminish because everyone who goes to the bikini latte huts goes there for the bikini latte ladies, not speedo coffee dudes. They’d then be forced to become a regular coffee stand again!
Convoluted but fun conjecture.
This place is actually a couple blocks from my house, so I can at least say that they rebuilt the hut from the ground up (hopefully including much more insulation and heaters). As previously mentioned, this is miles from downtown Bellevue, about 10 minutes from Microsoft campus and is actually a fairly diverse neighborhood. I’ve been past it quite a bit since they opened and even saw the KOMO(?) reporter filming his segment. The ladies inside seemed more amused than anything. The first I heard that the city was trying to shut them down was the sign out front saying that their business was still open while they negotiated with the city.
Which is prologue to the comment that I need to go over there and get a mocha and leave those ladies a big tip. Both because it’s cold out, and just to show some neighborhood support. Maybe if they had told the city they were seamstresses it would have worked out better…
@62 kind of hits it… we’re sitting here having a conversation about the appropriateness of this business as progressives, but in reality this armchair blog flexing isn’t really helping. these women are in danger of losing their jobs in a recession, in a business that would be otherwise thriving if it weren’t for prudes in Bellevue. when people are faced with a restricted job market, they’re going to make less than commendable choices, but fuck… they deserve our support. not people throwing them under the bus because they’re being supposedly exploited. shame on you who can’t realize that.
Are people throwing the baristas under the bus by questioning the taste of such an establishment?
Thinking these joints suck doesn’t necessarily mean it is because of prudish reasons.