“I’ve been wanting to get back downtown,” Wells said in an interview. He worked in the Oregon District for 10 years before opening the Vandalia shop. The new space is “a good fit” for his business, he said.
“We are excited to be an integral part of the first-floor activation in the new Fire Blocks district,” Wells said in a release.
>> A look inside Dayton's Fire Blocks District
The new shop will feature art gallery space, custom tattooing and a lab-grade body-piercing facility “that is unlike anything in the area,” Wells said. Wells & Co. will feature tattooing services by Wells and other artists in the area as well as touring artists and educators in the field of tattooing, along with curated art shows highlighting local and national visual talent, the shop’s founder said.
>> Developers scoop up downtown properties
“We will be higher-end but accessible, with community space,” Wells said. The shop will be a walk-in business open to the public, while some of the artists will work by appointment.
The block was was born out of the Great Flood of 1913 and subsequent fires that devastated the city. The space that Wells & Co. will occupy is part of a building erected in 1919.
Plans for the block call for construction of 75 housing units in the Huffman block building, ground floor retail space, a restaurant, office space and a penthouse level clubhouse for residents with a patio overlooking the city.
About the Author
