Bikini baristas set bad image, example for area
Dear Editor:
I am a longtime resident of Camano Island and graduate of Stanwood High School.
As such, it goes without saying that I have been passing through and shopping in Stanwood for many years. I have enjoyed Stanwood and the people of this area very much, and I still do.
I have read with interest the recommendations for the future direction of this active and growing town as presented in the Stanwood- Camano News
some time ago by “Design Stanwood.”
I have followed Mayor White’s attempt to locate a four-year college here, and have seen the muscle of people rising up in mass to keep Walmart “out,” and save the small town atmosphere.
I have also enjoyed other small towns like Leavenworth and LaConner. Their town leaders have obviously planned and, over time, improved upon what was “there” until they became destination towns.
Our town also has a rich heritage of hard working, honest Swedes, Norwegians, farmers, farms and other wholesome industries. (Surely Twin City Foods has been a huge contributor to our area, providing jobs for workers and contracts with farmers.)
Our town is spread out. I personally consider the heart of it the beautiful – now tree lined – Main Street (271st NW).
The “newer” part by Haggens has its own energy. SR 532, which literally thousands of people use to reach their jobs on the mainland everyday. Camano residents (with money jangling in their pockets to spend somewhere) also drive it. There is no other way off the island. Stanwood’s merchants are very interested in islanders going no farther and stopping to shop here. This highway is the area I am concerned with as I write this letter.
I think the SR 532 corridor should show as much class and beauty as possible. It is the main things a lot of travelers to Camano ever see. If it is junkie looking, there is no reason to turn off and investigate the wonderful shops and town businesses along that highway. If there were no charm there, why would anyone expect it to be anywhere else?
There are probably lots of things, like tree plantings, that could improve the visual appeal of SR 532. There is also some housecleaning I think needs to be done by the city.
Every time I come into Stanwood, and before you get to Jimmy’s Pizza on SR 532, I see a sign for a business that is less than a class act.
That sign is on an 8-by- 10 shed. It has two large, very readable words: “Bikini Barista.” You can hardly miss it – even if you try. It was a littler sign in the summer. Now it is almost winter and the sign is much bigger.
However, it is not just the sign that bothers me. I don’t think Stanwood needs a peek show anywhere in its city limits. Let customers of peek shows, and more than peek shows, go to Everett where similar coffee shops have recently came under the scrutiny of the law for providing more than lattés. Why does every person who lives on Camano have to be subjected to that every time they come to Stanwood? There are busloads of school kids pondering what it all means.
Bikini baristas in the middle of winter?
It doesn’t add up, and is just plain not appropriate.
I am supposing that when the business license was first issued it was as a coffee drive-by business. Then one day the enterprising owner(s) decided he/she couldn’t compete.
It sets a crazy precedent.
If Stanwood cannot do anything about this switcha roo business, I guess if QFC, Frontier Bank, Snowgoose Book Store, Rite Aid, etc., find its clientele falling off, they can have big signs touting “bikini clerks,” change the dress code of its staff, and watch their profits just perk right up.
Surely, Stanwood would get noticed, but not in a way we all would like.
I say it is madness.
It is time to clean up our beautiful town.
Ann Dorsey Camano Island
