By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
After 13 years at its location at Vine and Eighth streets in Hays, Sore Loser Tattoo & Body Piercing will be moving to the Bricks.
"I have been looking for properties — at properties — for a few years in different areas of Hays," owner Chris Norris said, "but I always thought that downtown would be really nice to go to. I just really like the feel of downtown and just everything about it."
Norris, 46, has purchased the former Bluetique building at 1008 Main.
He said one of the advantages of a downtown location is foot traffic.
"I think what we will lose in a high-traffic area, we will gain in foot traffic," he said.
Norris said the building is requiring extensive remodeling, including work on the plumbing and ripping out the carpet. Regulations require non-porous flooring in tattoo establishments.
Norris said he plans to have piercing on the ground level and the tattoo parlor on the second level.
The new building will give the business more square footage. The business's current building is about 1,800 square feet. The Main Street building has about 1,500 square feet per floor over two floors.
"We are just going to divide up the space and make it a little more habitable," he said.
On the ground floor, the piercing stations will be set up in individual rooms. On the second floor, the tattoo artists have opted for a more open layout pit style.
However, if someone requests more privacy, there will be moveable screens available.
Norris hopes to use the space to expand his jewelry offerings as well as add another tattoo artist.
Two of his current artists are Fort Hays State University graduates from the art program.
The business handles jewelry for ears, lips and noses as well as navel curves.
Norris does piercings, and business has one other piercer on staff.
"We are very light hearted," he said. "It is not a serious work environment. That is what I have always strived for — be clean, be friendly, be yourself."
The business also has permanent makeup artists who travels to the Hays every eight weeks.
Norris said he had some concern about making a business move during the economic uncertainty of the pandemic. The business had to close for seven weeks this spring because of the COVID shutdown.
However, he said business rebounded well after the reopening and has been steady the rest of the year. Although tattooing is not recession-proof, he said it tends to be more stable than other services or retail.
Because of the remodeling that is being required in the building on Main, the business will likely not open in its new location until after the first of the year. Norris said he was planning on a soft opening by March or April.
He said the business will be launching some other changes, but he is not ready to announce those at this time.
For more information on Sore Loser, call 785-621-4969 or follow the business on Facebook.