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For its 37th location, Studs is introducing its first concept store: The Studs Chapel, located inside the Grand Canal Shoppes at Las Vegas’s The Venetian Resort. The founders of the piercing chain have conceived of it as a destination for bachelorette parties and other quintessential “When in Vegas” moments.
“We’ve been wanting to do Vegas for a really long time,” said Anna Harman, co-founder and CEO of Studs.
Vegas, she felt, presented a unique opportunity to lean into a concept — and Studs already had a concept in mind. “We had this idea to play off of The Little White Wedding Chapel,” Harman said, referring to the iconic site of many celebrity weddings, including Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, and Britney Spears and Jason Alexander (though that one was later annulled). “We wanted to play on the idea of ‘just married’ with ‘just pierced,'” she said.
Studs has already seen bachelorette parties come through some of its existing locations, including Nashville and Austin. The founders imagine Las Vegas will quickly follow suit.
To celebrate its newest location, Studs partnered with BachBoss, a luxury bachelorette party planning service co-founded by “The Real Housewives of NYC” star Ramona Singer’s daughter, Avery Singer. Together, the two companies will host a giveaway, beginning November 6, in which one winner receives a bachelorette party, Studs group piercing included, worth $6,000. Both companies will promote the contest through their social accounts.
This weekend, which marks the store’s opening, the first 50 guests will receive exclusive Studs merch. Also this weekend, the Studs Chapel will host newly engaged couple — singer Hayley Kiyoko and former “Bachelor” star Becca Tilley — as part of a paid partnership to promote the opening. “They wanted to do something fun to mark the occasion, and new ear piercings and jewelry felt like a great [option],” Harman said. “It’s exactly the kind of celebratory experience we want people to have at the Studs Chapel.” Content will be captured and shared across Studs’s Instagram (373,000 followers) and TikTok (155,000 followers) channels. Kiyoko (1.9 million Instagram followers) and Tilley (1.1 million Instagram followers) will share the content on their own social channels, too.
In addition, next weekend, the tattoo artist Yanhua Wei (@arielisgood) will be on-site offering exclusive designs tailored to Vegas, Studs and the iconic Little White Wedding Chapel.
According to research reported by Retail Touchpoints, over 75% of Gen Z prefer to shop IRL — and, of course, piercing has always been an IRL experience.
“Piercing is [always experiential], but, in some environments, you can make it even more so,” Harman said. She’s already imagining partnerships with artists-in-residence at the Sphere, for example.
“What if we did collaborations with The Sphere and The Sphere performers, … [and we] have custom merch that is sold at Studs where you can get the U2 piercing or you can get the Backstreet Boys piercing, for super fans, [and] you can have experiences that mirror what they’re doing in Vegas?” she said. Offering tattoos on a more permanent basis is also on the table. “[We’re thinking about] what other services we could offer in the studio that make sense and are adjacent to piercings,” Harman said.
Studs has already embraced partnerships. For example, over the summer, the brand hosted a book party for Tinx when the creator published her first novel, “Hotter in the Hamptons.”
And, in February, the brand partnered with Glow Recipe. Studs offered samples of Glow Recipe’s newly launched Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush to the first 100 customers who also got piercings. “We are using the studios as spaces to do multiple things, whether that be get a piercing or get a tattoo, as part of an activation that we’re doing, or get gifted a new beauty product from a brand we really like,” Harman said. The overarching idea is about “trying to morph the studios into not just [places for] functional services, but also places you go to have fun.”
It’s mutually beneficial for both parties, Harman said. Studs gets to drive foot traffic — and piercings — and other brands get access to a physical space and the opportunity to interact with customers IRL.
Between popular Vegas events including Formula 1 and venues including The Sphere, Harman imagines the Studs Chapel will prove a perfect venue for this kind of event.
Of course, when conceiving of a “concept store,” design becomes even more important. And, as piercing becomes even more of a group activity, so too does the opportunity for in-store content.
The Vegas location’s design leans into puns, something the Studs brand has always done, said Lisa Bubbers, Studs co-founder. “We want people to experience fun and kitsch, but it’s still within [the world of] Studs’s elevated brand experience,” she said. Puns and wedding-related wit are built into the decor, such as signage reading “Tunnel of lobe” and “Will you pierce me?” in addition to “Just pierced.”
Studs has always been built for content, Bubbers said. “Ear piercing is something people do either to do something for themselves — like, they’re going through a breakup and they want to feel better. Or, they’re doing it with their friends to have an experience, and it’s super social. But, either way, it’s something people want to document.”
This was only amplified for Vegas. “[Creating shareable moments] was a huge consideration for [the Vegas store], with these vignettes, where the the signage is designed so that you can have a really great photo moment,” Bubbers said, adding that the Studs team is excited to host parties of all kinds in the new location. “The experience is designed to be fun and to give you a memento of that great experience — both the memento of an ear piercing and the photo opportunity.”
Week in review
Collab of the week: Timex’s Teeny Tiny Timex, endorsed by @dimepiece
This week, Timex launched a tiny version of one of its most classic watches. It is not a formal collaboration with Brynn Wallner, of the popular women’s watch Instagram Dimepiece (60,000 followers), but rather, “endorsed by her,” according to the brand’s website. The watch, which is sized like jewelry, according to the brand, is being promoted in photos showing multiple stacked on top of each other, like bracelets.
“Brynn’s thoughtful, authentic energy shines through the Teeny Tiny Timex, which is a celebration of self-expression and our shared love of watches,” said Shari Fabiani, chief marketing officer at Timex Group. “Watching Brynn and [Timex global creative director] Giorgio Galli collaborate was a true meeting of creative minds who believe great design should be for everyone.”
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