The little town of Vassalboro, Maine, is going to have one less topless coffee shop soon, bringing its total to, well, zero. Donald Crabtree opened the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in 2009 but a fire that was allegedly set by the boyfriend of a waitress at the java joint forced the operation into a trailer home. Now the town’s zoning officer says Crabtree must take down a big sign advertising a benefit topless car wash and another saying “Boobies Wanted.”
So Crabtree says he’s done. “The business is slowly dying,” he told the Morning Sentinel. “You can't win. I'm killing myself, is what I'm doing.”
The coffee shop opened in February of 2009. It was destroyed in a fire on June 3, the morning after Crabtree appeared before a town planning board to discuss his plans to extend hours of operation and add a DJ and dancing. At the annual Town Meeting a few days later, Vassalboro residents approved a new ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses.
Crabtree says he’ll close up after selling off inventory.