Local man follows dream with new business

MARQUETTE — A local Marquette man and professional body piercer is following his dream by opening his own business, a new piercing boutique in downtown Marquette.

Chris Gonyou opened Aurora Piercing Boutique on March 8th , introducing the first professional body piercing only studio in Marquette. The business offers everything from a small single gem pieces to pre-historic megalodon shark teeth ear weights.

Each piece is hand set and American made. Gonyou says that he believes that Marquette has a great culture for this business.

“We want to cover every aspect of body piercing so if somebody just wants some small little speck or gem we can do that, if they want some crazy way to express themselves we can offer that too,” Chris Gonyou said. “We also offer totally custom jewelry so if somebody comes in with an idea and they’ve never seen it before we can actually design it and make it for them. I always come back to Marquette just because of the culture, the people here. It’s so awesome, I can’t leave.”

Aurora Piercing Boutique is also the first shop to have a member of the Association of Professional Piercers working in Marquette.

This organization is a nonprofit based in California that requires training and apprenticeships for members who focus on learning and teaching about the health and safety of body piercings. Hours for Aurora Piercing Boutique can be found online and on the shop’s Facebook page.