Lynn Erickson isn't afraid to walk the streets of Fargo, showing off her nude leotard, fishnet-clad legs, and feet seductively dipped in whipped cream.
Yet as "Luna the Coffee Girl," she draws a good type of attention to Luna Coffee. In fact, if you drive along University Drive in the mornings, particularly on warm, sunny mornings, you've probably seen her.
Erickson is the woman who appears to be perched in a life-size coffee cup, steering passers-by to her coffee shop at 1545 S. University Drive.
It's not exactly an easy job, either.
"It is a pretty elaborate harness that goes underneath (the costume) because part of it holds the legs around me and the other part holds the cup," said Erickson. "It takes three people - me and two others - to get it on and hooked up tight so I can move around."
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As the co-owner of Luna Coffee, Lynn and her husband, John Erickson, have been running the business since December 2008.
So what exactly does it take to be "Luna the Coffee Girl?" We decided to find out.
How did you get into this line of work?
We have been customers of Luna since it opened in 1993. My husband and I lived about five blocks from here, and we would come and have coffee. And obviously we had different careers. John was getting close to retirement, and I was working at another job, and his schedule was a lot of weekends and different things, and we were not spending time together. And he was looking in the paper and said, "Look at this, Luna Coffee is for sale." And we both kind of sat there and went, "Boink! You know ... wouldn't that be fun."
What do you like about being the coffee girl?
It makes people smile. It's just something special because I stand there, and they're driving by, and a lot of people will honk; others will wave. Teenage boys will roll their eyes and look the other way. It's kind of a day brightener.
How did this costume come about?
How she was invented was my sister owns a costume shop, Pricilla Mooseburger Costume, and I've said, "Wouldn't it be fun if I had some kind of coffee cup where I can just go out on the street, you know, to show people Luna is here," and she said, "Let me work on it." It took about eight months, and she and her designer put together this cup.
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My mom made the top part with the whipped cream, and the hat has a chocolate stem. It was a family effort.
What is an interesting tidbit that people don't know about your job?
With the costume, they think I am sitting in it.
What is the craziest thing that happened to you while wearing the costume?
The last time I was out, a man said, "Hey baby, you look pretty foxy for a cup." (And) I said, "Thanks, that is the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day."
Is the costume easy to walk in?
Yes, it is. I always have someone walk with me across the street just in case I fall down. It looks pretty silly, I am sure.
Should competitors be nervous when it comes to your advertising skills?
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I don't think anybody else has something that draws attention like that. They have signs that people get used to, but people ask when Luna the Coffee Girl is coming back, so they like her.
