Ahnie Peeples, the owner of Magic City Tattoo in Minot, decorated the wall with picture frames to make her new shop feel like home, and a stuffed giraffe welcomes the guests. Ciara Parizek/MDN

A Minot tattoo artist opened her own shop on Saturday under the name Magic City Tattoo.

For the last three years, Ahnie Peeples had been thinking about opening her own tattoo business, and she really began putting things in motion last October. She had to go through First District Health Unit for a health inspection and the state for licensing. Once she had all of her certifications, she began looking for a place to set up shop.

A few locations around Minot caught her eye for her business, but Suite 2 in Prairie Rose Plaza best fit the bill. It’s centrally located and easy to find. Peeples said a locksmith business had been in the suite before. The floors were carpeted and the walls were painted orange. Peeples and her boyfriend went through the place and did a lot of remodeling. They ripped up all the carpets and laid down laminate flooring, painted the walls a deep purple and cut out holes in the walls to really open the space up.

In the next month or two, a large sign will go up on the Prairie Rose Plaza sign to indicate Magic City Tattoo is located there. Peeples also plans to have a large neon sign on the top area of the building, like Domino’s Pizza and Ace’s Lounge & Casino. Putting decals on the windows is on the to-do list, as well.

The front lobby area is decorated with frames, an arcade game in the corner and the desk is occupied by different types of succulents to liven the place up. The individual areas for each of the three artists are visible from the lobby, but each one has curtains to give clients privacy. In the very back, Peeples set up a room for those who need a quiet and private place to ease their anxiety, if they have any sensory processing difficulties or just need a space to destress while they are there.

Liz Pavlicek and Amanda McCauley are the other two artists who will be working with Peeples. The two are part time and travel back and forth from Florida, so the only one that will be at Magic City Tattoo full time is Peeples. If clients have a preference as to which artist they want to do their newest piece, they are more than welcome to schedule an appointment with them.

Peeples said they would be willing to do a walk-in if the piece is small and wouldn’t take much time, but appointments are preferred. All three artists really love to draw and they want to make sure that they can get the design right before the appointment.

So far, Peeples has set up PayPal, Venmo and Cash App to take electronic payment for tattoos. They will also take cash, but will not accept checks. In the future, getting a Point of Sale system so clients can pay with a credit or debit card. “There are a lot of us that use our cards,” Peeples said.

The first day of business on Feb. 22 was busy. They had many people stop in to schedule an appointment and one client was in getting a tattoo with McCauley.

All three ladies came from Psychward Tattoo on Broadway. Peeples said if clients had appointments with any of them at Psychward, their appointment will carry over to Magic City Tattoo for the same time and date.

Peeples said she has nothing but love for Psychward. She just got ambitious and wanted to be able to cater to her children a little easier. Having her own business, she can make her own hours and do what she needs to do to “mom properly.” Her three-year-old son has Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disease affecting one in 15,000 people. For the last three years, he has had five physical therapy sessions a week and has had several surgeries. Peeples described her son as “one of the happiest humans I have the pleasure to know.”

The name Magic City Tattoo is “a nod to the community.” Peeples wants her business to be a staple to Minot, and years down the road, she hopes that it will seem like it’s always been there.

Tuesday through Saturday, Magic City Tattoo will be open from 1-7 p.m., and will be closed on Sunday and Monday.