Java Girls gets new name; baristas cover up

Given a slow economy and push to attract a broader customer base, the owner of Carson City's Java Girls has taken the business in a new direction: Family friendly.

The tiny coffee hut at 3667 S. Carson St., which used to feature baristas in lingerie, has been renamed V&T Coffee Company. It will eventually resemble a train station, said owner Don Emborsky. The coffee shop is still open for business.

Most of the baristas who worked at Java Girls will work for the new coffee shop, but will now wear casual clothes - and maybe an engineer cap to go along with the theme, Emborsky said.

"In my heart that's how I always wanted to run that hut," he said. "I think I got some bad advice from the Java Girls. It sounded fun. The economy was so different in 2008. It seemed positive, everyone was so excited about it."

But with the downturn in the construction industry, Emborsky said many of his customers stopped coming, adding many people would tell him they wouldn't buy coffee at his business because of its sexual nature.

Emborsky's Java Girls, a franchise, had attempted to attract more customers by covering his baristas with tube tops and hot pants instead of bikinis earlier this year.

He said the V&T Coffee Company will offer the same coffee and some new menu items.

"I can market this better than Java Girls," he said, adding he'll stage a grand opening in about a month. "I can do Taste of Downtown. I can pass out fliers at a parade."