Tattoo Shops

High-End Tattoo Shops

Just as the corner barber shop where the floor was always dirty and the stench of cigar smoke hung in the air like the pollution in Pittsburg is all but a thing of the past, so is the dirty and dingy tattoo shop in the more questionable part of town. In their places, a number of more respectable tattoo businesses have arisen. Of these, a few have become known as chic places for the well-to-do to get their ink done.

Hart & Huntington Tattoos

In the hip and posh Las Vegas Palms Casino/Hotel is one of the best known tattoo shops in the country. Opened in early 2004, Hart & Huntington Tattoo achieved celebrity status immediately, due to being co-owned by motocross racing icon, and husband of pop star Pink, Carey Hart. Being the focus of MTV's popular reality show Inked hasn't hurt the shop's A-list status either. People now come from all over the US to get their tats done at Hart & Huntington, and the list of celebrities going under the needle there is likely to grow as Hart himself will soon be a full-fledged tattoo artist.

Miami Ink Tattoos

It may have been the TLC program Miami Ink that made this shop into a household name, but in the tattoo world, Miami Ink Tattoos has been making a name for itself for quite some time. As the number one spot on the east coast to get inked, Miami Ink now serves celebrity clients as well as the average eighteen year old looking for a cool tat to impress his or her friends. Due to the popularity of the show, the artists at Miami Ink are now minor celebrities in their own rights as well.

The Sterile Tattoo Shop

Tattoo shops were once regarded as dirty places, bastions of filth and disease - whether the reputation was warranted or not. That image has changed dramatically as the more common shops now look more like medical offices inside than what we would usually think of as a tattoo parlor. One of the best examples of this trend is the decade-plus old company HTC in Phoenix, Arizona. Specializing in body piercing but also dabbling in tattoos, it would be easy to mistake HTC for a doctor's office - if your doctor wore barbells in his tongue and had the word "SLAVE" in black ink going up one arm.

When the AIDS epidemic broke in the 80's, tattoo parlors came under fire for suspected unsanitary conditions and unsafe practices, like using the same tattoo needle on multiple customers. While most shops already made a practice of using needles only once, it was clear that the industry needed to clean up its act or face dire consequences. Shops like HTC are the result of that self-policing in the tattoo and body piercing industries.

Tattoo Parlors of the Future

Tattoos today are more common than ever before and show signs of increasing in popularity rather than seeing interest wane. Due to continuing technological developments in the industry, such as a wider variety of inks and highly specialized equipment, tattoo shops have become an accepted and welcomed part of societal commerce instead of an unspeakable and sometimes illegal segment of it. As the popularity of tattoo art increases, so will the number of shops and the quality of the business they do and the clients they serve.

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