The name seems fitting given that Outlaw Ink is about to go where few tattoo parlors have gone before: the suburban shopping mall.

By mid-November, Scott Irwin, owner of the Ingersoll Avenue business, plans to open a second shop on Valley West Mall’s lower level, next to Click’s Cyber Bar. The new parlor, called Color Works, will provide a comfortable, upscale setting geared toward people, especially women, who always wanted a tattoo but were too afraid to go to a traditional parlor to get one.

“The idea,” Irwin said, “is to educate people about what a good tattoo is and to promote other shops in the area. We want to reach people who never travel to the Ingersoll or Drake area.”

Irwin believes the new location will be successful, not only because it will become one of the only tattoo parlors in West Des Moines, but also because tattoos have become more mainstream. There are more than 15 tattoo parlors in Greater Des Moines, and according to a 2003 Harris Interactive national survey, 16 percent of all adults have at least one tattoo. Because more people are getting tattoos, society’s perspective of tattoos are changing as well and many people no longer categorize those who have tattoos as bikers or soldiers.

A large part of society’s acceptance is because of more exposure to tattoos and tattoo parlors through television. As a result, said Carrie Larson, a tattoo artist at Outlaw Ink, “so many more people have them. It’s more accepted.”

“It’s something in our culture that a lot of people partake in,” said Paul Stender, general manager of Valley West Mall. “These guys are doing it in the right environment and right conditions and will improve the image of what they’re doing.”

So far, the response from other business owners in the mall has been positive, although many have not heard much about Irwin’s plans.

“I really think people will be open to it,” said Erik Standeser, owner of Click’s Cyber Bar. “This day and age, tattoos aren’t new anymore. Everybody’s used to them.”

“We’re moving toward being a very diverse society,” said Anna Nicolaidis, store manager of Younkers at Valley West Mall. “I would assume it’s something that would be accepted.”

Irwin decided to open a parlor in Valley West Mall after several customers approached him about the idea, including Standeser and his brother. He was interested in this mall more than other malls in the Des Moines area because it has been around longer than Jordan Creek Town Center, for example, which Irwin felt made it a safer investment.

“I think it will be very successful,” said Irwin, “but there’s a still a group that will be uncomfortable. It’s in an environment where it’s their choice. They can walk past it.”

Color Works is leasing a space off the mall’s main hall, said Stender, and the shop is in an area that’s service oriented. Top Nails & Tanning and Cost Cutters already lease space nearby. The parlor will be smaller than Outlaw Ink, with four tattoo artists and one piercer, compared with seven artists, a piercer and a screen printer at the Ingersoll parlor. Irwin said his tattoo artists will likely alternate between the two locations.

To be allowed to set up in the mall, however, Irwin said he had to go through an extensive process, which lasted about six months and included getting approval from the city of West Des Moines, the state, Polk County and the mall. Irwin had to present a detailed business plan to the mall that included what the store would look like and employee dress code.

The process, said Stender, is usually extensive for any local operator, because mall managers want to “make sure [the store] fits in with other stores at the mall and is appropriate to Valley West Mall.”

They went through great pains and a lot of effort to prove to us that this is something we were willing to do at the mall,” he said. “I think they have us convinced that this is going to be very professional and very clean.”

Irwin said Color Works will have a “soothing industrial look” with a sage and cream color scheme, dark wood and concrete floors. Instead of having tattoo pictures on the walls, all images will be on a computer.

The store also will offer more flash tattoos, pre-designed tattoos, in addition to the custom tattooing Outlaw Ink focuses on. Irwin said no pictures will have images that would be inappropriate for someone younger than age 18 (the legal age limit someone can get a tattoo) to look at while waiting for a parent in the lobby area.

The mall also requires that the equipment used is disposable. After each session, everything is discarded in a biohazard bag. “It’s a visual difference,” said Irwin, whose Ingersoll shop uses equipment that is sterilized after each session, which is safe as well. Although it’s more expensive to use disposable equipment, Irwin said the cost is not prohibitive.

Irwin believes that the tattoo shop may help attract a younger clientele that has been shopping at Jordan Creek instead. Some Valley West Mall businesses agree, but believe having a tattoo parlor in the mall won’t change the shopping center’s image.

“I think it could do really well for mall business,” said Liz Coller, a store manager for The Children’s Place clothing store. She said it could help businesses in return.

“Valley West is such a staple in the community. New stores won’t affect business. People like to shop here because it’s right off the interstate, convenient, and in a business district.”

The other draw of having a tattoo parlor in the mall is that being the only one of its kind in Greater Des Moines, it could draw people interested in seeing the new service.

“We’re always looking for the next new tenant,” said Stender, “something different and new to the mall that creates new excitement.”