Bare-istas Back in Business: Topless Java Joint Reopens After Arson Attack
VASSALBORO, Maine (CBS/AP) They are back in business – barely!
The Grand View Topless Coffee Shop reopened yesterday in Maine after owner Donald Crabtree got the OK from a local planning board. This time his semi-nude servers are working out of an office trailer.
Crabtree's original location burned down in June in a suspicious fire. The blaze came just hours after Crabtree met with local officials about making his coffee business more like a strip club, asking to extend the hours of the shop and offer music for waitresses to dance to at the "over 18" establishment.
Later that night, the shop was torched in a fire that has been ruled an arson, and officials continue to investigate.
The opening of the business last February in Vassalboro, Maine, a small rural town outside of Augusta, angered many residents.
Still, the owner drew 150 applicants for 10 jobs.
Crabtree says business is slow, but customers are starting to trickle in.
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