Ithaca Piercing & Tattoo hosted a “Friday the 13th” promotional event within its shop on the Ithaca Commons, advertising reduced piercing and tattooing fees all day with no prior appointment. To prepare for the event, the shop enlisted the help of guest piercer Mahalia Sol and tattoo artist Luna Kimura.
Apprentice piercer Katy Berg said that these events aim to promote Ithaca Piercing & Tattoo to prospective customers who may not have heard of them otherwise, and to cater to college students with the discounts. The shop has also started to hold events during weekends with high foot traffic, such as the Apple Festival in September and the Ithaca Festival in May.
“Those two events in particular, we used to not really like them,” Berg said. “Having all the booths out on the street, it kind of feels like people are blocked from coming through. And I was like, ‘there’s a very easy way to fix this’. So for Apple Fest, we rented a booth right out front of the shop. And it was an awesome weekend.”
Berg said that the environment during the event was festive and exciting, and that the ability for customers to walk in without an appointment encouraged them to take advantage of the discounts.
“So often we’ll have people come in like, ‘I want a piercing’,” Berg said. “And then they’ll see all the flash tattoos sitting out and they’ll go, ‘but what if I also got a tattoo?’”
Autumn Conner, a graduate of SUNY Cortland, said she has been to the shop several times before the event and that the staff’s positive attitude is a major reason she keeps returning.
“They’re just so unbelievably welcoming,” Conner said. “You will throw the most crazy idea at them and they’re like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
Proximity to campus
For some Ithaca College students, a major draw to the shop is how easy it is to get to Ithaca Piercing & Tattoo. Rowan Mellin, a senior communication management and design major at IC, said that the ease of access was beneficial when reflecting on her experience with the shop.
“At Ithaca College, we have a program right now where all students can use the TCAT [Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit] for free,” Mellin said.
“I actually took the TCAT down here, and it took like 15 minutes. I got here just as the doors opened and got scheduled really early. I’d say it’s plenty accessible to students.”
Staff involvement in the community
Rob Johnson-Ford is a co-owner of Ithaca Piercing & Tattoo. From Trumansburg, New York, he began working at the shop over 15 years ago. First interacting with the shop as a customer, he worked his way up from behind the desk to completing a piercing apprenticeship at the shop.
When the previous owner stepped away after the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson-Ford banded together with three other employees of the previous shop, including current body piercer Lianna Gentz and tattoo artist Scott Carlton. Together, they purchased the shop and turned it into its current iteration, Ithaca Piercing & Tattoo.
Johnson-Ford and several of his coworkers play in local Ithaca bands, including Cobra Cadaver, Secret Servicemen, and Practice At. The music scene within Ithaca offers another way for employees of the shop to engage with the community.
Berg attributes some of the event’s success to the discounts offered on piercing and tattooing services.
“Piercing is a luxury service,” Berg said. “We do need to charge prices to pay our piercers fairly. When we give discounts like this, people are really excited to come in because they still get that great quality service and the great quality jewelry as well. And it’s cool to poke holes and give people cool new body adornments and help people become who they feel like they are.”
