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Home » Opportunity, Sexism

Booby/Booty Business Plans

December 6, 2009

by OptixmomcloseAuthor: Optixmom Name:
Email: editor@thenewagenda.net
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Just the other day a journalist from outside the D.C. area asked us at TNA for our opinions on a new coffee house where the theme of the store was get a hot cup of coffee served by a HOT babe.  The promo on their website featured a teen-aged female who was wearing a mini-mini-skirt and had breasts bursting out of her low cut top.  I won’t get into the names that they use to describe different cup sizes of coffee.  You also will not find a link to this new booby business here, nor will I give them the benefit of mentioning their name.  No free publicity with us, thanks.

The reason that I brought this up was not as much for the regular members here at TNA, but for those who are thinking up business plans for new catering or restaurants where they feel that leveraging a woman’s body in their restaurants will make them richer beyond their wildest dreams.  First off the restaurant business is extremely competitive.  There are new cafes and shops opening every day all over the country and the owners work hard to create business plans so that they can prove to money lenders that their ideas are viable and sustainable. 

The first rule of writing a successful business plan is to consider your clientele, the people who will buy from your business, the people who will make your business money.  Niche businesses have to be very careful when considering the buying habits of their potential niche demographic; just because you think you have a novel idea for a niche market does not mean that you will capture that market or even excite that niche to buy from you.

So let’s consider the niche market of clients who frequent cafes or restaurants that leverage the looks of their servers, in particular young women.  An example would be the clientele for a restaurant that rhymes with Scooters.  These clients are predominately male ages 25-54 and they go to this restaurant because it is a sports bar.  Their like interests are sports, alcohol, and boobs (oh, and maybe chicken wings).  That pretty much sums it up.  Not every Scooters has been successful, and the reason is that when they open up a new store they misunderstand the needs of their potential client base in that area.  They may have overestimated the number of men who would frequent their business; it is the risk that any business takes that relies solely on a niche.

Now let’s consider a coffee house or drive thru hut that serves coffee and advertises glimpses of boobs and booties as an extra bonus.  This business will rely on a similar niche to Scooters.  Maybe they believe that the hype around their new store will generate clients outside their niche.  There are several flaws to these beliefs:  first, many from the Scooters’ niche don’t care where they get their coffee, and second, another rule of business is don’t offend potential clients.  A large percentage of  potential clients outside of the niche will be offended and this group will be predominately made up of women.  Women and men are equal in their coffee drinking habits, but both have different reasons for buying a cup.  A coffee business that does not cater to the female consumer, and openly offends them, will find that their business will struggle.  Coffee houses will compete for every consumer, and offending a segment of that consumer base will leave your business stagnant and limit its growth potential.

Cafes with Booby/Booty Business plans are not only in poor taste they are also bad business.

4 Comments » Want an avatar? Get a gravatar!

  • Thia Lawson (author) said:

    Great article Optixmom! I think these businesses must believe women will just ignore the offensive use of the booby/booty and shop there anyway. Most of the men I know (over 25) don’t go to “Scooters” anyway because they want good wings and the pandering to the lowest common denominator of men doesn’t make up for bad food. How about forgetting all the gimmicks and condescending “tricks” and just making good food/coffee. What a concept!

    December 6, 2009 at 10:22 am
  • AnneE said:

    Perhaps we should open up a coffee shop and call it Dick’s? And have an imaginative menu for the offerings. Good Lord-people are dumber than bags of hair.

    December 6, 2009 at 4:28 pm
  • Patti said:

    Thanks for writing this article, Optixmom. I haven’t seen too much outrage about these types of businesses from feminists. I’ve been appalled for quite some time.

    For several years coffee drive-thrus (latte stands, as we call them) with bikini baristas have been operating in the Seattle area. Snohomish County just north of Seattle is considering passing a law to classify these businesses as adult entertainment. Some very illegal illicit activities (ie prostitution) have been going on at some of these stands. The residents, schools and other businesses in some of these neighborhoods are up in arms, as well they should be.

    What is really upsetting is the lack of self-esteem in these young women. Do they not realize they are pimping themselves out for their Johns/owners? A severe lecturing by Janis is what these women need. Janis, are you up for it?

    December 7, 2009 at 3:31 am
  • Ann Valentine said:

    It’s like the good ol’ boys club, the men’s golf club, thought that their simpleton interests and binary cave mentalities were more generic than they actually are. “Hey guys I got this great idea. Let’s make a coffee place with boobs! Everyone will love it, and by everyone I mean. Haha did I mention I have a wife!”

    December 7, 2009 at 12:34 pm

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