Java Girls jiggles into Carson City

A business that hires young women to sell coffee while wearing bikinis or lingerie should be allowed to operate in Carson City like other legal businesses, said Jim Wheeler, but it's not somewhere he would go.

"I'm too old for that kind of thing," the white-haired man said, smiling, outside Raley's on Tuesday.

But Java Girls, based in Auburn, Wash., is counting on men's interest for the success of its new 3667 S. Carson St. store that opens Thursday in the parking lot in front of Raley's. The company started in Seattle a few years ago and has 14 stores, this being the first in Nevada.

Store owner Don Emborsky said he's heard good reactions about the shop from everyone he's talked to but knows not everyone will be happy with the five or six girls serving coffee at the drive-through business.

"I'm sure someone will have their opinion," he said.

People will definitely know when the store is opening, said company president Steve McDaniel, because employees will be wearing bikinis and waving signs Thursday morning on South Carson Street.

The young women who work there are picked as models, he said, and have gone on to appear in magazines including Playboy.

"There's lots of good opportunities for them," he said.

Amber Ward of Gardnerville said she's worked at a coffee shop for three years and decided to work at Java Girls because already "it's great tips wearing clothes."

"Obviously it's going to cause a little bit of a stir," said another employee, Breanna Querin, "but it's going to be fun."

McDaniel said he has cameras at his stores to make sure everyone acts appropriately. Ward said she's not worried about the atmosphere.

"Working at a coffee shop whether you're wearing clothes or not, you're going to get customers who think they can talk to you a certain way," she said.

Young people might like Java Girls, said Jean Sanderson of Carson City, but the city, which is opening its store before Las Vegas does, might not be a good place for it.

"I think it's probably a little far," she said.

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.