Tucked away in a parking lot off of Capital Boulevard sat an 18-foot trailer with the sign “Cup O Jane” flapping in the wind. Although many cars might have missed the small trailer, the drivers that decided to stop by were welcomed by unconventional barista service women dressed in anything from bikinis to leather and lingerie.
Blair Carrieri and his partner Dominic Peterson brought their unique version of a coffee shop to Raleigh after seeing a few similar businesses in Florida.
“I was a bodyguard for a lot of years until I was laid off and I needed something to do,” Carrieri said. “I had seen a couple of these when I was in Florida, and that’s what gave me the first idea.”
While the name may be clever and the coffee may be good, many customers agree that the baristas are the main attraction.
“It’s really a shock value,” Carrieri said. “When you drive up here you don’t see girls like that in Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, it’s a shock. [Customers] start their day off here, and if starting the day off happens to mean looking at a pretty girl then it makes their day just a little bit better, so be it.”
Carrieri has been at his current Capital Boulevard location for three months and says it took some time before the business model was up and running.
“It took us about a year to go through the city with permits and licenses,” Carrieri said. “It was because they knew what we were doing. We’re in the middle of the Bible Belt so they weren’t really into it like we were. They’re still not.”
According to Carrieri, controversy regarding the business was to be expected. He understood that not everyone would see the idea in the best light.
“[Critics] say what we’re doing is against Raleigh’s family values,” Carrieri said. “However, you see more on a beach or downtown on a Friday night on Glenwood. You can see more than what’s shown right here anywhere. I’ve witnessed it and anyone who’s ever gone downtown can say the same thing.”
The controversy attached to Cup O Jane is what pushed Carrieri to invest in a state of the art security system.
“I have four cameras outside and I have three inside,” Carrieri said. “When you have women dressed like that you’re going to have guys, that 10 percent, that aren’t so kind-hearted.”
According to Carrieri a number of people have called into the city saying they’ve seen everything from the girls prostituting out back to breasts being shown for tips.
“I wasn’t kind with the cops when they investigated the prostituting claim,” Carrieri said. “One of the girls is my wife. Plus, we were open for 12 hours and I was only making about $20 a day. I told the captain that if we were doing what they were accusing us of we would be making thousands, don’t bother me for $20 a day.”
The business was created for the people, mainly males, commuting to work each morning, according to Carrieri. While 10 percent of their business is women, the rest falls to the male demographic. Carrieri estimates that 25 percent of their customers are cops and detectives who frequent Cup O Jane.
“They’re people that don’t have a good minute in the day,” Carrieri said. “If we give them 10 minutes out of their day in which they’re talking or seeing something they like, that’s great.”
Regardless of the customer reactions, Carrieri explained that he and his wife have worked hard to bring their creation to life.
“Amy was a dancer for years and a lot of dancers aren’t smart with their money,” Carrieri said. “She saved a lot of her money and it’s that money that’s helped us with this. There are a lot of dancers out there that will make $200 and spend $300 all in the same day. They’re just not smart about it.”
According to Carrieri there are a lot of girls that get into drugs or a scene that they don’t need to be in. Carrieri has been through 15 baristas already.
“Those kinds of girls are not on my timetable,” Carrieri said. “Being pretty girls that work in clubs they don’t know what Eastern Standard Time is. I call the two different times Eastern Standard Time and Stripper Time. When they’re not on time, I am not the person to say you’re so pretty you can get away with it. It just doesn’t happen.”
Although Carrieri said that Cup O Jane has received criticism, he said he believes things would be different if the people in the Triangle were not as sheltered.
“When people shelter everybody from everything, you have terrible things that happen because people expect the world to be perfect,” Carrieri said. “The world isn’t perfect. If they see it and they know it, people won’t look and gawk because it will just be another part of the day. That’s what makes it different.”
Carrieri said his business was never just about pretty girls or good coffee, but a marriage of the two.
“I didn’t start this to put it in anyone’s face,” Carrieri said. “I did it to make a living the best way I know how.”
