AURORA | Bikini-clad women walking the streets advertising Perky Cups coffee shop have provoked Aurora City Councilwoman Molly Markert to spearhead an incendiary effort to boycott the shop and all businesses surrounding it.

Markert and at least 30 other people have signed a petition to impose an economic boycott on the stores surrounding Perky Cups coffee shop at 12101 E. Iliff Ave. because of store owner Jason Bernal’s racy business tactics.

Markert, who did not return a call for comment, sent the petition along with a letter to the shop’s property manager on May 20, saying the store’s scantily clad employees are at risk of “rape and murder.”

A copy of the letter was included in Markert’s monthly newsletter sent to The Aurora Sentinel.

“There is nothing per se illegal about the antics he insists on forcing on the neighborhood,” Markert wrote in the letter addressed to Jamie Mitchell, a broker at Shames-Makovsky Realty Co., the property manager of Perky Cups. “When one of his employees is raped and murdered we will all mourn the loss. In the meantime, we pledged together to not shop or frequent any of the shops in that (shopping center) until the outside parades cease permanently.”

Bernal said the bikinis that are donned by his 10 employees pose no risk of sexual harassment, and Markert’s remarks went “overboard”.

“That’s out of line,” Bernal said. “We’re just a coffee shop, we do nothing illegal here.”

The store is in compliance with all city ordinances and is certified with the Tri County Health department, he said.

Perky Cups has been at the center of controversy since March when a 10-foot-by-20-foot sign featuring a woman in a bikini sprung up in front of the shop and resulted in a heated First Amendment debate.

City officials determined that the sign was protected by the First Amendment and it was in compliance with city code, although discussions about reducing the maximum-allowable size of standalone banners are currently ongoing.

The store also began receiving criticisms in April from people who were irked and unimpressed when the store’s employees began their Wednesday ritual of selling hot dogs in their bikinis outside of the shop.

Some business owners adjacent to Perky Cups are worried that the economic boycott will grow and become detrimental to their financial gains.

“It’s okay if they stay within their confines over there,” said Jim Pasquariello, owner of Daniel’s of Paris bakery. “But when they start parading around the shopping center, they look like prostitutes soliciting other things. The economy is sorry right now, and there’s a lot of vacancies in here, so if it were to escalate, it would be a big hurt to the businesses.”

Other storeowners say they think an economic ban on the entire shopping center is rash and unwarranted.

“Every business owner tries,” said Leo Kosolap, owner of the Ukraine Market. “I don’t think they are doing anything wrong.”