Artists clean their stations between appointments and sanitize other frequently touched surfaces. Clients are taken straight to the artist’s booth to avoid people congregating in the lobby and clients aren’t allowed to bring guests with them.īooths inside the shop are spaced about 10 to 12 feet apart. Walters hired a crew to sterilize the entire shop with antimicrobial spray prior to opening Living Canvas.Īppointments are staggered so the shop can limit the number of people inside at one time.
New safety protocolsĪs shops reopen, owners and artists are looking to state and federal guidelines for other industries to craft their own safety plans.Ī Governor’s Office spokesman said staff was working with public health officials to develop guidance to help tattoo shops reopen safely but they have not yet been released. Lady Luck Tattoo on Grand Avenue near Fifteenth Avenue reopened on May 16, according to the shop’s website. Other shops appeared to wait until the order expired to open. But we read through the fine print and we didn’t quite feel he addressed us,” she said. “When he modified the stay-at-home order at the end of April allowing nail salons to open, we assumed we were kind of in the same category. Like Living Canvas, artists at Black Sails were ready to reopen on May 8, said artist Lorenza Chadwick.īut after reading Ducey’s order allowing salons and barbershops to reopen more carefully, they decided to wait a few days, Chadwick said. Tattoo parlors have a higher level of sanitation than some of those other services because of the nature of the work anyway, he said. Walters said if it was safe for a hair salon or barbershop to reopen, then it should be safe for a tattoo shop to open, too. Living Canvas, which opened on Mill Avenue south of Ninth Street in 1993 and is the oldest tattoo parlor in downtown Tempe, reopened along with retailers and other service-based industries on May 8.
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The shops are somewhat operating on their own, creating their own health guidelines absent any formal guidance from the state on how to reopen. They weren’t listed under a different order calling for spas and massage parlors to open either.īusinesses like tattoo shops and others deemed non-essential under the statewide stay-at-home order, which expired Friday, are allowed to reopen May 16.īut many, like Living Canvas and Black Sails, already had opened. However, tattoo shops weren’t included in the governor’s order allowing salons and barbershops to open. Doug Ducey lifted restrictions on those industries earlier this month and allowed businesses to open for appointments on May 8, with additional physical distancing measures and cleaning protocols in place.
Tattoo parlors were ordered to close on April 4 along with salons and barbershops to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Customers are asked to take extra precautions when coming in for a tattoo, too. They sanitized the shop and required that clients wear masks, among other precautions.Īt Black Sails Tattoo, about three miles east on McClintock Drive, staff took an online course on infection prevention offered by the World Health Organization before opening.Īrtists at the shop, which opened on May 15 after closing two months earlier, wear face masks, protective eye shields, an apron and gloves. Walters and his artists kept the front door of the downtown Tempe shop locked, the “open” sign turned off and they only accepted a few appointments each day the first week open. Mark Walters opened his tattoo parlor Living Canvas Tattoos on May 8 after more than a month closed and an estimated $50,000 in lost revenue. Mark Walters, owner of Living Canvas Tattoos in Tempe.