( CNN ) -- 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 . '' 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 , Maine , said she applied to several restaurants before being hired at the Grand View . All the restaurants declined to hire her because of her lack of experience . `` I 'm so excited , so excited to have a job , '' she said . The coffee shop jobs are paying off . One waitress received a $ 100 tip for a cup of coffee , and most of the wait staff make about $ 30 a table . Although the topless coffee shop has been open less than a week , Crabtree said he is already seeing regulars . Customers include a variety of individuals , but mainly couples and females . He also sees his new business venture as a temporary fix for customers struggling through tough economic times . `` The economy is so bad , '' Crabtree said , `` Everyone 's losing their homes , their ties , everything they own . People leave here happy and ca n't wait to come back . It 's nice to see people smile again . ''
Men , women without tops wait tables at Maine coffee shop . Owner says high number of applicants a reflection of tough job market . Staff hired on basis of friendliness and willingness to `` treat everyone equally '' ` not just the customers '.