Q3 2014 // Business Black Box
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Hughes has more than 10 years experience in the tattoo industry. He gained most of that experience in California, where he got his first tattoo at the age of 27 in honor of his wife who passed away from breast cancer. Today he has close to 40 tattoos—many of which are prominently displayed on both arms. Among his favorites is the biblical reference Genesis 9:6. “He who sheds man’s blood must also his blood be shed by man,” he explains. “So, he who tattoos must be tattooed, is the way I put it.” Hughes’ shop in Greer has only been open for a year and a half, but he has seen a steady growth in business. “We’ve doubled in business this year,” he says. “It’s been a real blessing.” He estimates that he and his son, Justin, average 30 customers a week. Religiously-or iented tattoos are the most popular request, making up roughly 75 to 80 percent of his business, followed by sports and nature. But the popularity of religious tattoos at his shop is not attributed to being in the south, Hughes notes, adding that he can name several other shops that don’t produce nearly as many religious tattoos; rather, he credits it to word of mouth. “A lot of my wordof-mouth business is from people I associate with outside of work, and the people I hang out with are all believers. I even tattooed my pastor and he helps spread the word,” Hughes says.
Although business is doing well now, it was not as easy to get it started as it now sounds. Hughes spent six months looking for a location that met all the state and local city requirements and filing proper paperwork before he was approved. “It’s almost impossible, as far as zoning issues go,” he says. Most cities’ zoning requirements end up placing tattoo parlors in an industrial area rather than commercial, he explains, which is what led to his opening Ink Slingers down the road from the S.C. Inland Port and GSP Airport. Tattoo parlors are regulated by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Among other things, DHEC requires certificates of completion in the training of blood-borne pathogens, tattoo infection control, first aid and adult CPR. It also requires a minimum distance of 1,000 feet between a tattoo parlor and a church, school or playground. Compared to Jordan Yarborough, however, Hughes has had it easy. Yarborough has spent the last two and a half years trying to open a shop. He spent several thousand dollars on equipment and even had a Web site created, but he has yet to find an ideal location. The zoning laws vary between cities, “meaning that every time I tried to find a new shop somewhere, it would be a completely different set of hoops to jump through,” Yarborough says. “I’d find a building, start negotiations with management and generally two months later I would ultimately be denied.” Yarborough blames his struggle to convince building owners to rent space to him on the age old stigma attached to people with tattoos.