Hundreds of tattoo shops calls Missouri home

LEMAY, Mo. -- Craig Schutzius was something of a pioneer when he opened his tattoo parlor here 27 years ago. He had one of the few tattoo shops in the entire St. Louis region.

And, back in those days, Karen McMullen never would have set foot inside any of them.

"Getting a tattoo was just taboo," said McMullen, a 61-year-old retired legal secretary and mother of seven from St. Louis. "If someone had a tattoo, you thought they were a ruffian."

But on a recent weekday, in a sign of changing times and attitudes, McMullen sat in Schutzius' salvaged barber's chair going over the details for a purple butterfly tattoo on her left leg.

She wanted the butterfly to look like it was flying, its antennae curled and no "creepy crawly" legs. "I want him to be pretty," she instructed. It would be her second tattoo in five weeks. The first: A red rose on her other leg.

As tattooing has gone mainstream, an impressive boom in tattoo artists and shops has followed. The tattoo marketplace is as crowded as Schutzius' ink-sleeved arms.

Now, 44 tattoo shops call St. Louis County and city home. In Missouri, there are 320 licensed tattoo parlors -- a jump of nearly 50 percent in just five years. The number of licensed tattooists has doubled in that same period, to 1,506. Missouri's situation is believed to reflect trends nationwide, although national numbers are not available.

"I never thought it would get to this point. Never saw that coming," said Schutzius, 54, a self-described "old-school tattooist" clad in a black T-shirt and black jeans.

The relentless growth has surprised other industry veterans, too. Even 10 years ago, Nate Strautkalns, the successful co-owner of Trader Bob's and All Star Tattoo in University City, was thinking, "This has got to be the peak."

But tattoo shops kept opening. Now there is some concern that the industry might be outstripping its surging popularity, especially as consumers pull back in a harsh recession. Some area tattoo shops have started offering $10 tattoos to get people in the door.

"I am a little concerned about it," Tommy Rath said with a knowing laugh.

He was laughing because later this month he and his brother Billy, both tattooists, plan to open a new tattoo studio in downtown St. Louis.

"Self-Inflicted Studios" has been etched into the papered-over windows of the storefront along trendy Washington Avenue. A final city permit hearing is set for July 14. They were scrambling with last-minute details, painting the walls theater red and ordering furniture.

"We've been planning on this for two, three years," said Billy Rath, 25, who has the St. Louis skyline etched on his neck.

This might not be the ideal time to launch a new business, said Tommy Rath, 29, but "it's been my dream."

The Rath brothers -- both wearing tattoos of their father's classic 1937 Ford -- worked together at T-Doggs Tattoos in north St. Louis County before setting out on their own.

They longed to open their own shop. Their walls would be free of flashing, those tattoo design sheets commonly displayed at parlors. They would emphasize free-form tattoos rather than working from templates.

"We're trying to change the way people look at tattooing," Tommy Rath said.

Tattooing has gained wider acceptance as its pop culture exposure grew, from tattoos that dangle like everyday bling from the arms of NBA and NFL players to the popular TV shows documenting the work lives of tattoo artists.

Fourteen percent of the U.S. population has a tattoo, according to a 2008 Harris Interactive poll. But that number leaps among younger age groups: Nearly a third of people ages 25-29 and 25 percent of those in their 30s had a tattoo.

Many state and local governments now regulate tattooing to limit public health risks, giving the shops an aura of safety.

And as competition has grown, so has specialization. Some shops, like The Black Pearl Studio in St. Louis, cater to African-American clients. Cosmetic tattooists focus on clients seeking permanent eyeliner rather than a "Mom" tattoo.

Back at Craig's Tattoo Studio, near Lemay Ferry and Bayless roads, Schutzius worked on the purple butterfly.

Marvin Sisson watched. He is a tattooist who runs the A Too For You Tattoo Shop in south St. Louis. The two tattoo artists -- longtime friends -- talked business.

Clients today want more intricate and specialized designs than in years past. They walk into the shop armed with color printouts taken from a wealth of designs available online.

"Nowadays it's hard to tell what people want," Schutzius said.

Tattoo themes used to run in predictable streams. Skulls were once popular. Then soaring eagles. Then simple black tribal designs took hold.

"Never seen anything run stronger than that," Sisson said.

"I had weeks where you didn't see anything but tribal," Schutzius said.

"Got to the point you didn't want to see any black ink after that," said Sisson, a burly, cheerful man with a beard and a gray Harley-Davidson head wrap.

Their shops once attracted clients from a wide area. But now with so many tattoo shops, people have other options.

Schutzius finished up McMullen's tattoo. He wiped it clean and rubbed petroleum jelly over it. The butterfly glistened on her leg.

"Gosh, that's pretty," McMullen said before leaving.

Alone in the small shop, the two tattooists considered how the industry has changed. Neither will do tattoos on the face or neck -- a line that more tattooists appear willing to cross as they push the boundaries. Sisson dismissed the boom in new shops as "an explosion of people just scribbling on other people."

And Schutzius complained about the rough technique he sees from some of the younger artists.

"It's not like digging for gold," he said.

They sound a little like a couple of old-timers complaining about the next generation. But they also believe they have something still to offer in an increasingly crowded tattoo world.

"Guys like us," Schutzius said, motioning to his friend, "hardly exist anymore."

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com