BY ANDREW BAILEY
BG Independent News Correspondent
The Sanctuary has found a new home, and Joyful Creations was gifted the old location.
The tattoo and piercing shop opened on 181 S. Main St. about a month ago, leasing the building from Perrysburg’s Prephan Enterprises in May. The building previously housed the hair and nail salon Changes on Mane.
Sanctuary owner Ryan Nickens had been eyeing larger buildings since they opened in their former location at 192 S. Main St. a little under two years ago. He saw the building across the street was open for leasing while standing outside one day and inked the forms a few days later.
Now, he’s happy with 3,000 square feet and better layout to walk customers back to their appointments. Nickens decided to leave up wall artwork from the previous owners to “preserve the history of the place, Changes had been there for over 40 years.”
Nickens is currently working with BG Graphics Company on designing a new sign to replace the still-standing Changes on Mane logo, and adorn the large street-facing windows.
He also had friends at their old location — Gayle Brim and Laura Miller, co-owners of Joyful Creations. As soon as Nickens settled on the move, he told Greenbriar, which owns both the old Sanctuary location and Joyful Creations’ old location, 188 S. Main St, Suite 1.
Brim and Miller were able to secure a lease on their current location before it went on the market, thanks to Nickens, they said.
Previously packed into 350 square feet, floor space was tight for Joyful Creations’ products, and they had to share a six-foot worktable for all their handmade crafts. The move tripled their space to more than 1,000 square feet, and they were able to add a seating area, a larger worktable, and an extra room for arts and crafts classes that they hope to start this summer.
Both businesses are using the larger spaces to their fullest they said, and they’re glad the neighborly relationship they had allowed them to benefit from each other. At their previous locations, they could see each other working through windows across the alleyway.
Brim and Miller said that looking across that alleyway now is a reflection on how far they’ve come.
“We look back at that old place and wonder how we packed everything in there. Now we’ve tripled in size and it’s amazing. We have more space to do and share what we love,” Brim said.
