Yellow Bird Tattoo owner Joe Fessman plans to open a coworking-style tattoo shop next door called Yellow Bird Tat 2 in July. (Courtesy of Joe Fessman)
A Fan ice cream shop’s former storefront didn’t stay vacant for long.
Tattoo shop Yellow Bird, which operates at 2402 W. Main St., recently snatched up the former Moon Rocks Gelato space next door where owner Joe Fessman plans to launch a spinoff dubbed Yellow Bird Tat 2.
Fessman likened Yellow Bird Tat 2 to a coworking space for tattoo artists to build their own businesses.
“(Moon Rocks) moved out and I wasn’t necessarily ready but I see it as a super valuable location, so I took the leap,” he said. “What I’m looking for is a shared coworking space where artists can come in and pay a rental and do their work.”
When it opens as planned in July in the 2400 W. Main St. space, the new shop will have six rental workstations that would be available on a monthly or weekly basis. Fessman said he planned to limit the rentable workstations to tattoo artists with some experience looking to advance their careers.
“I see an opening in the market for it. It’s that simple. There’s plenty of young, talented tattooers who I have the highest respect for and I think some of them will be ready (for a concept like this),” he said.
Yellow Bird Tat 2 differs from the original Yellow Bird concept in that tattoo artists pay a fixed rental rate rather than pay a percentage of what they charge for tattoos. Yellow Bird Tat 2 is also intended to be a place where the artists can be more independent.
Fessman declined to share rates but said the workstations would each be dedicated to a single tattoo artist. A rental would come with shop-provided sanitation supplies and personal protective gear but not tattooing equipment like needles.
Part of the former Moon Rocks space will also be carved out for Yellow Bird’s piercer Ashley McCann, giving McCann a larger studio and space for a retail area, Fessman said.
The coworking business’s space is about 1,200 square feet, which is about the same size as Yellow Bird’s shop. Fessman plans to invest about $45,000 in the buildout of Yellow Bird Tat 2.
He said he had already been thinking about opening such a business when his former neighbor’s space came up for lease. The idea was inspired by his own experience working in the industry before he opened his shop.
“For me personally I always felt there was a ceiling. I always felt like I couldn’t go much further. Remembering that feeling from my roots, it’s been a priority to take a look at the system and see how it functioned and how I can improve it.”
The new venture comes as Yellow Bird has started to see business return to a level comparable to before the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects were first felt locally in March 2020, Fessman said.
The shop reopened in summer 2020 after a temporary closure and was able to ride out the worst of the pandemic with the help of merchandise and gift card sales. More recently, the shop has felt supply chain woes in the form of shortages of gloves and after-care supplies for tattoos.
“I’m looking forward to a time of peace and healing for everyone after what everyone has been through,” he said. “I think things are starting to return to the same landscape it was before COVID, which we’re blessed to have.”
Yellow Bird continues to enforce a mask policy, which Fessman said was to protect vulnerable family members of the staff.
Fessman founded Yellow Bird, which was originally called Old Soul Tattoo, in 2016. The shop originally opened in Scott’s Addition and moved to a downtown location before settling in the Fan.
Fessman’s new concept is taking shape across the street from the former F. W. Sullivan’s, where a new bar called Cure is expected to open. Also in the Fan, the building formerly home to Baja Bean Co. was recently listed for sale.
Yellow Bird Tattoo owner Joe Fessman plans to open a coworking-style tattoo shop next door called Yellow Bird Tat 2 in July. (Courtesy of Joe Fessman)
A Fan ice cream shop’s former storefront didn’t stay vacant for long.
Tattoo shop Yellow Bird, which operates at 2402 W. Main St., recently snatched up the former Moon Rocks Gelato space next door where owner Joe Fessman plans to launch a spinoff dubbed Yellow Bird Tat 2.
Fessman likened Yellow Bird Tat 2 to a coworking space for tattoo artists to build their own businesses.
“(Moon Rocks) moved out and I wasn’t necessarily ready but I see it as a super valuable location, so I took the leap,” he said. “What I’m looking for is a shared coworking space where artists can come in and pay a rental and do their work.”
When it opens as planned in July in the 2400 W. Main St. space, the new shop will have six rental workstations that would be available on a monthly or weekly basis. Fessman said he planned to limit the rentable workstations to tattoo artists with some experience looking to advance their careers.
“I see an opening in the market for it. It’s that simple. There’s plenty of young, talented tattooers who I have the highest respect for and I think some of them will be ready (for a concept like this),” he said.
Yellow Bird Tat 2 differs from the original Yellow Bird concept in that tattoo artists pay a fixed rental rate rather than pay a percentage of what they charge for tattoos. Yellow Bird Tat 2 is also intended to be a place where the artists can be more independent.
Fessman declined to share rates but said the workstations would each be dedicated to a single tattoo artist. A rental would come with shop-provided sanitation supplies and personal protective gear but not tattooing equipment like needles.
Part of the former Moon Rocks space will also be carved out for Yellow Bird’s piercer Ashley McCann, giving McCann a larger studio and space for a retail area, Fessman said.
The coworking business’s space is about 1,200 square feet, which is about the same size as Yellow Bird’s shop. Fessman plans to invest about $45,000 in the buildout of Yellow Bird Tat 2.
He said he had already been thinking about opening such a business when his former neighbor’s space came up for lease. The idea was inspired by his own experience working in the industry before he opened his shop.
“For me personally I always felt there was a ceiling. I always felt like I couldn’t go much further. Remembering that feeling from my roots, it’s been a priority to take a look at the system and see how it functioned and how I can improve it.”
The new venture comes as Yellow Bird has started to see business return to a level comparable to before the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects were first felt locally in March 2020, Fessman said.
The shop reopened in summer 2020 after a temporary closure and was able to ride out the worst of the pandemic with the help of merchandise and gift card sales. More recently, the shop has felt supply chain woes in the form of shortages of gloves and after-care supplies for tattoos.
“I’m looking forward to a time of peace and healing for everyone after what everyone has been through,” he said. “I think things are starting to return to the same landscape it was before COVID, which we’re blessed to have.”
Yellow Bird continues to enforce a mask policy, which Fessman said was to protect vulnerable family members of the staff.
Fessman founded Yellow Bird, which was originally called Old Soul Tattoo, in 2016. The shop originally opened in Scott’s Addition and moved to a downtown location before settling in the Fan.
Fessman’s new concept is taking shape across the street from the former F. W. Sullivan’s, where a new bar called Cure is expected to open. Also in the Fan, the building formerly home to Baja Bean Co. was recently listed for sale.