GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — If you’re looking for a quick stop for groceries, you’ve found it at the Double C Convenience Store on Leonard — or have you?
Fancy yourself a pop? They’ve got options.
Pepsi, Mountain Dew, orange soda and something called Copper Coin. But when you click that vending machine button, much more than just a soda awaits you.
“We want people to kind of walk in and be a little confused," said Mark Fettig.
“I guess you would call it a speakeasy," agreed Patrick VanSandlyne.
Through that doorway is Copper Coin Tattoo Parlor.
“People don't believe us when we tell them it's a tattoo shop," said Patrick.
An idea that started like most jokes do — two tattoo artists walk into a vending machine.
“I called Mark and I was like, 'Dude, let's open up a shop,'" laughed Patrick.
“We just had time to sit around and dream during COVID," said Mark.
Patrick and Mark are co-owners — and friends?
“We’re bros," Patrick said, at the same time Mark said "We're friendly."
Whatever they are, they’ve come up with quite the concept.
“It lends to getting some free coins from the soda machine, people trying to figure it out," laughed Mark.
“Where the idea kind of stemmed from was back when tattooing was illegal. And so you had it at the back of, you know, convenience stores, barber shops, laundromats," said Patrick.
“The entrance in the shop is amazing. But it's all about having a talented crew to back it all up," said Mark.
Behind their backs during the interview, working on a tattoo, Hailey Clark.
“We’re doing a little girl standing on an alligator, holding its little mouth," she said while still working.
“My favorite part is help make someone feel beautiful in their body," Hailey said. “We don’t get to choose what body we have, but we get to choose what we put on them.”
This hideaway is full of pain. Customers in black leather chairs around the parlor wince when the needle hits their skin.
But also filled with passion. Evidence? Adam Justus, 5-year tattoo artist.
“Before I was a tattoo artist, I was an electrician," he said.
Instead of working with coils, he tattoos coiled dragons. The line work alone on the tattoo he was working on took him nine hours.
“Forming your own ideas and putting it on someone’s skin to be there forever is so fulfilling," Adam explained.
They're etching their unique place in the world in ink. At the place, with two sides of the same Copper Coin.
“We wanted it to be the sweet spot for everyone in Grand Rapids," said Mark.
Copper Coin is open every day from 12 to 8 p.m. except Sunday. They're located at 436 Leonard. You can book an appointment here.
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