The economy does not discriminate. Old or new, it puts local Phoenix area tattoo shops through the ringer, but a positive attitude may be the key to pulling through.
Despite the slower business that most local tattoo shops have experienced due to the recession, The Golden Rule Tattoo owner Jason Anthony said he “opted out of the recession.”
“It’s all a state of mind,” Anthony said.
Anthony opened The Golden Rule Tattoo in July in the midst of an economic roller coaster, but said he has not let it affect his attitude.
“The funny thing about recessions is that they always end,” Anthony said.
Other shops in the area have found it harder to stay so bright.
“Tattoos are a luxury, and people are cutting back on luxuries,” Dale Orman, owner of The Crawling Squid Tattoo Studio, said. “We’re just looking for the economy to break.”
Still, other shops have faired reasonably well through the bad weather. Divinity Tattoo opened its third location two years ago in downtown Phoenix and still sees its fair share of customers.
“It kind of all evens out,” Bruce Rivera of Divinity Tattoo said. “People looking for a job will still save up for another sleeve.”
Jenni Anderson, an anthropology senior who has five tattoos and counting, agrees that they are worth the expense.
“The economy doesn’t affect my desire or ability to get a tattoo,” Anderson said. “If it means something to me, then money is not an issue.”
Regina Clemens-Fox, an English professor, does not believe the decision to get a tattoo during a recession is an easy one to make. Her latest tattoo is a complex work-in-progress that symbolizes the completion of her Ph.D. in rhetoric.
“I stopped having work done when ASU cut our pay due to the furlough,” Clemens-Fox said. “I had no money to invest in it, so it was put on hold for a semester.”
She plans to pick up where she left off when the future is more certain.
Though Clemens-Fox’s problem is all too common today, Anthony does not let the numbers get to him.
“I’m not going to let the state of everyone else’s wallet affect me,” Anthony said.
The Golden Rule Tattoo has one very big detail that has proven to aid in growth—location. The shop draws a crowd from the Downtown campus.
“We are the closest shop to campus,” Anthony said.
The Golden Rule Tattoo is situated on East Roosevelt and North Second streets and just down the street from the First Fridays Artwalk.
“We get a lot of people walking past that will stop in,” Anthony said.
Whether it is the location or Anthony’s positive demeanor, The Golden Rule Tattoo is making headway in an economy hell-bent on breaking businesses.
Contact the reporter at ldisanti@asu.edu
