James Sroga is busy catching up with demand at Dead City Studios in North Bay.
Dead City opened Wednesday, taking tattoo appointments cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. An official opening is planned for Monday, but Sroga says his waitlist extends to October.
“We basically had three months of appointments that needed to be rebooked,” he says. “What I'm doing right now is I'm not taking any new clients or any new projects until all that stuff is figured out.”
Sroga says he used the time while Dead City was closed to recharge and spend time with his family.
“I went through a period of about a month when I didn't even want to think about art,” he admits. “I was actually kind of burnt out before this happened. So, inadvertently, it was a little bit of a blessing, as well as being a curse. I’m refreshed now.”
Tattoo shops are among the businesses allowed to reopen in the province's second reopening phase. And Ted Wraight was Sroga's first client since COVID-19 social-distancing and isolation rules were put in place.
Wraight says he’s lucky because he booked his appointment for Wednesday earlier this year.
His tattoo is a memorial to his grandmother, who died a few years ago. Today, he’s getting grey-scale shading done on the existing roses, skull and quote.
Wraight says he’s been waiting a long time to have the piece completed and views it as a celebration of COVID-19 restrictions being lifted.
“I’ve just been excited to get it.”
Sroga admits having his business closed for three months was a strain on his finances.
“There are a lot of bills every month that need to be paid and I've managed to get them paid,” he says. “But it basically ate up all of my resources to do it. So we’re back at square one.”
Sroga says it’s difficult to watch other businesses struggle or close because of the pandemic.
Dead City employees and customers must use hand sanitizer before entering the studio. Customers also are asked to wear a mask provided by the shop, and only five people are allowed in the shop at one time.
Sroga says there will always be concerns when being so close to a client, but he insists the tattoo parlor is one of the safest places to be.
“Even with the numbers of the pandemic being low [in North Bay], I mean what’s safer than coming to get a tattoo – one on one and in a sterile environment or going to a store with 200 people?”
Sroga says it’s good to be back at work.
“It feels kind of weird because it took me about a month to come down off work,” he explains. “I have to switch gears again, but it's great to be back. I love my job.”
Mackenzie Casalino is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
