'' The flood of job applications -- more than 150 -- for Grand View Topless Coffee Shop reflected the rough job market . Crabtree hired 10 women and five men under stringent requirements , including friendliness and , what he considered most important , that the wait staff `` treat everyone equally . '' Watch townspeople , employees talk about coffee shop `` We did n't hire ' 10s , ' '' he said , referring to appearance . `` We hired everyone from skinny to big-boned women . '' Of the 15 selected , most had been laid off from other jobs in the past few months . Elvis Thompson of Brunswick , for example , was a line cook at a restaurant before he lost his job . `` They could n't afford me anymore , '' he said . He said he does n't mind fielding interesting requests from customers . `` An 80-year-old woman told me she wanted to see me in spandex , '' Thompson said . `` I just feel really lucky to have a job . I need the money so I can pay my rent . '' Ginni Labree from Palermo ,
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It 's a tough time for businesses , but one entrepreneur may have found the recipe for success . Male and female servers go topless at Grand View Topless Coffee Shop . On Monday , Donald Crabtree opened Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro , Maine , where the waiters and waitresses serve their customers topless . In a town with fewer than 4,500 residents , the topless coffee shop is booming with business . Paul Crabtree , the owner 's brother , describes business so far as `` fantastic . '' `` It 's just been crowds mobbing in , '' he said . Donald Crabtree faced initial opposition to his plan , but he won the right to go ahead in a planning board hearing last week . Many local residents were irate over the idea of combining coffee and nudity . Crabtree , however , saw a profitable business venture . `` I know what people want , '' he said . `` People like nudity , and coffee is profitable . Sure , I 'd start a coffee shop , but I 'd be out of work in a week .