After posting the last story about an artist in Germany who was in financial straights from the economic downturn I got to wondering. Just how badly has the current money slide hit our beloved art? After quite a bit of digging I am happy to report that on the whole the tattoo scene is not only proving to be recession proof, but in some cases is actually growing.
This is, of course, due in large part to the collector’s themselves. While they are still concerned about where and how they spend their hard earned dollars these days, nothing is going to keep them from getting their art.
Major retailers and corporations are all seeing a downturn in sales while most tattoo studios are not only holding their own, but some are even reporting a 20% growth in their business. Mike Cummings, owner of Inksomnia Tattoo in GA stated, “The tattoo business is not like a convenience store. We don’t count on seeing 200-300 people come through the doors every day. If we do 10 tattoos a day, we’re very happy.”
Amen to that, Brother!
Given the number of people who said that the trend in tattooing was just a fad and all the folks out there getting inked would soon be regretting it, I have one thing to say; “Nyah, nyah. Nyah, nyahn, nyah!”
Any art form that can not only weather the economic storm that’s putting a hurtin’ on businesses across the board, and actually show an increase in revenue during those times is certainly not “just a fad”.
Perhaps this will finally get it through their heads that there is far more to tattoo than just a passing fad. You never know, though. Some of those tat haters out there have pretty dense craniums.
Keep ‘em flyin’, gang. 😉