White Fox Tattoo shop has been experiencing a spike in clients over the past year, according to the shop owner and tattoo artists.
The all-female-owned tattoo shop opened less than a year before the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in the business having to shut down for months. Since they re-opened in August of 2020, the shop has seen an increase of up to 35 percent in revenue. Owner and tattoo artist Allison Way says that the pandemic actually helped to bring more people into the shop.
“I think more people have time and income and they don’t know when this pandemic is going to be over, so they’re gonna go out they’re gonna get that tattoo,” said Way.
Other tattoo shops in Ybor have been experiencing an increase in business, as well. Tattoo artists are booking up months in advance due to the higher demand, some shops have started using a waitlist to keep up with the demand.
“We had reached a level of success to have clients, but it’s just with the industry being overwhelmed as well anyone that’s tattooing full time probably is booked out right now. While the pandemic was happening right beforehand the tattoo industry was picking up in general,” said Skylar Minx, another White Fox Tattoo artist.
Due to its recent success, White Fox Tattoo is considering opening a second location in Tampa in the future.
From 2020 to 2021 the tattoo industry experienced an increase in market size by 23%. This is a faster growth rate than that of the consumer goods and services sector as a whole, according to IBIS World analysts.
“So, we notice that the shop was starting to thrive more and then the pandemic hit, and then nobody could get tattooed or do anything or have any kind of fun for months, and I think after that people were just so bored in addition to wanting tattoos and then now they can go on vacation they had all this money if they still had a job and everything and we were just flooded the whole industry,” Minx said.
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