SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — A longtime downtown Sioux Falls tattoo shop is getting settled into its new home and hopes to re-open this week.
Vishnu Bunny has moved from its previous location at 10th and Phillips, which is now under new ownership, to a space in Soo Square located at 6th and Main.
The interior of the new Vishnu Bunny is still very much a work in progress.
“I don’t fee like we’re even halfway there yet. We’ve still got a lot of stuff to find homes for,” Vishnu Bunny owner Jeff Mann said.
The new location inside the historic Soo Square will have room for six tattoo artists and one piercer.
“It’s a little smaller, but we’ll make it work. This is where the artists will be, it’s going to be fine, it’ll be beautiful,” Vishnu Bunny general manager Brian Gochal said.
Health inspectors will have to visit the new Vishnu Bunny before it opens because tattoo licenses don’t transfer from one location to another.
“They look for cleanable non-porous surfaces, hand sinks, that kind of thing, and then each individual has to have a license,” Mann said.
Vishnu Bunny management says finding a new space to rent took weeks because not many building owners are willing to take on a tattoo shop as a tenant.
“There are a number of buildings and places downtown that would have been perfect for us. But there is this arcane belief that a tattoo shop should not be allowed into the same building as a flower shop, or whatever else is in that,” Gochal said.
But it was important for the staff to remain downtown.
“Our clientele, our business model has all just kind of aligned with this neighborhood and we want to stay down here,” Mann said.
Vishnu Bunny was at its previous location for 13 years. So it’s been a bittersweet move to a new space four blocks away. Yet the tattoo shop expects to provide a shot-in-the-arm to this part of downtown for years to come.
“At this point, there was one retail outlet and one bar. We’re going to come over here and we’re going to add a vibrancy to this block that’s been waiting to happen,” Gochal said.
This marks the third time in 24 years that Vishnu Bunny has relocated its business. They’re expecting to open their doors to customers on Wednesday.
