No doubt about it, the economy is not too good across the world. This has had varying degrees of impact on everyone, tattoo artists being no exception. Tattoo artist Jay Moynahan, who owns the Foundation of Youth tattoo shop in Waterbury, Connecticut has experienced a 30% drop in business thanks to the shakey economy.
Moynahan, however, has begun to explore other payment options for people who might not have all the money they need to get a tattoo. The end result is that bartering for tattoos at Foundation of Youth is an acceptable practice. Moynahan will trade tattoo work for items such as Wii or Xbox 360 video games/systems, toys for his 2-year-old son, even shoes. For Moynahan, the idea is to not only get something of value in return for his work even when money is scarce, but also to build up a loyal customer base that will hopefully remain until money isn’t so scarce.
“I believe that a lot of people who are trading will come back, and pay with cash when they have it,” said Moynahan, a Waterbury native who opened the store two years ago. “We want to be as favorable as possible to the customer.”
A cynical person could scoff this whole thing off as a dude who’s desperate for business. But there’s something about the act of bartering for a tattoo that really highlights the true spirit of an artist. It may just be one little shop in Waterbury, Connecticut, but I like this idea of Jay Moynahan’s and I wish him luck with it.