New tattoo parlor opens in Superior
Jan. 7—SUPERIOR — A Douglas County veteran has opened a new tattoo parlor in Superior.
Northlandia Tattoo Parlor, owned by Jeremy Souders of Poplar, is located in suite B of the Effie Building at 902 Belknap St., formerly the home of
Nick Korhonen American Family Insurance.
Souders, who has worked the last seven years out of Benchmark Tattoo in Duluth, brings his own client base to Superior as well as the ability to expand. The new shop will have space for up to four tattoo artists.
After spending the last month retooling the space — adding sinks to each station and replacing carpeting with vinyl flooring — Souders cleared his last bureaucratic hurdle Tuesday, Jan. 3 when the Superior City Council approved the license for Northlandia Tattoo Parlor, retroactive to Jan. 1. The business officially opened Thursday, Jan. 5.
Originally from Cambridge, Minnesota, Souders joined the Air National Guard when he moved to Douglas County in 2007. He's been stationed with the 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth for 17 years and served six overseas deployments. A Master Sergeant, his job as an aviation electronics specialist involves a lot of technical work. Until Dec. 1, he was juggling two full-time jobs, the Air National Guard and tattooing.
"I was just getting burnt out, so I had to make a decision," Souders said. "I couldn't see myself not tattooing, I enjoyed it so much."
He chose to dial down to part-time with the Guard and continue tattooing full time.
"And then I decided to open my own shop because I need a little more control over my own destiny," Souders said.
The Superior location cuts his commute time in half, and the Effie Building, he said, is in a prime location. He's had his eye on it for years.
"I think Superior is set to boom," Souders said. "I see the developments happening down on Tower. I see the money getting put into the neighborhoods and kind of want to be at the ground floor of that."
He specializes in American traditional work, which incorporates black outlines, bright colors and set imagery.
"That's what I was trained on when I was apprenticing was the old school Americana style of tattooing and it's kind of morphed into a neo-traditional style where I take the basic foundation of American traditional style, but I apply more dynamic illustration and bolder color palettes," Souders said.
His artistry can be seen throughout the new business, from the reclaimed wood front desk to liquid acrylic paintings lining the wall and pictures of finished tattoos scrolling on a TV monitor.
"He's retiring from his full-time career and taking a chance on making it on his own," said Kelly Peterson, executive director of the Superior Business Improvement District. "That entrepreneurial, true entrepreneurial spirit is alive and strong and it's something to behold when you can see it in action and the attention to detail that they put into everything, every aspect of their business. It's amazing. Jeremy, his shop is going to be beautiful."
Coming up with the name was one of the most challenging parts of launching the business, Souders said.
"I didn't want something specific to just Superior or Belknap Street," Souders said, and Northlandia encompassed the entire Twin Ports.
He tapped into the Superior Entrepreneurial Center, which houses a host of business supports including the BID and Small Business Development Center, to secure grants and put the finishing touches on his business plan.
"That's one of the glorious things about being in this building together. It's just so easy to connect businesses with the resources to help make their dreams come true," Peterson said.
Although there are a number of tattoo parlors in Superior already, Souders said he had no concerns about opening another. Tattoo artists are goal-oriented, but cordial.
"I think it's great to have that many," Souders said. "I think it's great to have a wide range of artists because every artist has a different style, different way of doing things."
There's a lot of talented work being done in the area, Souders said, and he's glad to be part of it.
Peterson agreed that having another tattoo parlor in town, especially one with an established artist, is good for Superior.
"I think any of that in the spirit of friendly competition, it just makes everybody better. I think there's enough space for the tattoo places that we do have," she said.
Souders hopes to set Northlandia apart by offering a warm, inviting space, friendly, outgoing environment and quality work.
"Anyone who walks in the door we want to be able to give them a good, solid tattoo for what they're looking for," Souders said.
The shop will offer tattoos by appointment from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visit the
Northlandia Tattoo Parlor website
or
Facebook page
, or email
to book an appointment.
