Baristas find added revenue outside drive-thru stand

Published 4:24 pm Monday, February 15, 2010

Peek-A-Brew baristas have gotten comfortable brewing coffee at the Bonney Lake state Route 410 espresso stand in outfits usually only seen in the bedroom.

Now the lingerie-clad baristas are getting used to displaying their coffee-brewing skills for the on-line camera.

For a monthly fee of $3.99 Brewistas.com lets members watch the baristas work from the vantage point of six different cameras inside the stand.

The Web site is owned and operated by Seattle Sensations and Peek-A-Brew is co-owned by Kendra Harrington.

The innovative pairing of skim lattes and skimpy clothes created a tempest from the onset and media outlets including this newspaper covered the stories of concerned parents and otherwise upset citizens.

A protest occurred in May 2008 and at a Bonney Lake City Council meeting the same month, citizens expressed their desire to see the council take steps to address the issue of the stand, and another on Sumner-Buckley Highway, in the community.

The city attorney said the council can only take action which is appropriate under the local obscenity laws.

Peek-A-Brew barista Randi Damery said the business and its employees are serious about being responsible and are committed to following the law.

“We’re not wearing anything Bonney Lake says we shouldn’t be wearing,” she said.

In fact, the stand’s Web site includes a mission statement that includes the principles of being mindful of the law, preserving integrity and treating themselves with dignity and respect.

Since the launch of the Web site Jan. 8, the baristas are local celebrities, making the rounds on radio shows, and so far the baristas are being received better than in the past.

“We’ve had really positive feedback,” Damery said.

Further down the road and to the right onto Sumner-Buckley Highway a similar coffee stand sits at a gas station. The employees of the stand were offered the chance to be featured on the Web site but declined.

Barista Cara Fulton said the rival coffee stands’ venture hasn’t hurt business where she works and the installation of the cameras sent some customers her way.

Fulton said at least three recent customers told her they don’t agree with the camera concept and are now switching to the stand where she works because they don’t want to support it.

She said the main purpose of their coffee stand is to make espresso.

“It’s not a porn industry, it’s a coffee industry,” she said.

Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson said as long as the employees continue to obey the law, the city is planning no action. Last year, council passed an ordinance stipulating proper attire at the business.

“The ordinance that we passed a while back had to do with affirming what a business can do within a commercial zone, and the attire, as long as it can be worn at the beach, it’s protected by free speech,” he said.

He said the police department is monitoring the site to verify no illegal activity is occurring and so far, no laws have been broken.

“Of course, if anything else starts happening on that Webcam that we were made aware of, that changes things. But as of right now we’ve had no complaints,” Johnson said.