Skin Deep Tattoo and Piercing found room to stretch out with its recent move to 1306 Tower Ave. in Superior. Formerly Robinson’s Leather Plus, the site has more than three times the space of Skin Deep’s former location in the Billings Park neighborhood.
For the three tattoo artists who share the space — Jason Routley, Maggie Jenkins and Matt Osterlund — the move is an opportunity to increase their visibility and invite a fourth partner to join.
“Ever since the pandemic, we kind of thought we’d have maybe a bit of a slow-down, but we’ve been busy the whole time,” Routley said. “We have a really super supportive customer base.”
Skin Deep opened its doors in December 2018 in the Billings Park neighborhood. Osterlund joined the team the following summer. A longtime tattoo artist who was considering switching careers to be a teacher, he said working with Jenkins and Routley rekindled his love of the art.
“I like working with people who are excited about tattooing,” Osterlund said.
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The three co-owners had been planning to expand when the pandemic hit. They decided to wait for a bit, but a chance scroll through Craigslist changed that.
“I saw the ad for this place and the price was right,” Routley said.
On Thursday, March 11, she tattooed a rose and clock on Kaleb Zentkowski’s arm. It’s the sixth tattoo he’s received from Jenkins, but his first visit to the new location, which opened March 1. He was impressed.
“It’s a nice change. It’s a lot bigger, a lot more spacious," Zentkowski said.
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The three partners spent two months renovating the storefront, turning their artistic talents to installing flooring, painting, wall construction and trim.
“I’m really glad to just be an artist again after all this,” Routley said. “It was a lot of work.”
People have been slowing down as they drive and walk by, watching the new shop take form.
“The first fellow we met outside while we were building this place, he’s become a customer already,” Routley said. “He came and scheduled an appointment last week, the first week we were open.”
The business is already planning to take part in Fourth of July festivities and the Twin Ports Pinup group’s Pub Crawl.
“We’re really happy to be part of the business district in downtown Superior,” Routley said.
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With the larger space, walk-in consultations are now available. There’s even a chess table in the front window of the historic building that people can reserve for an hour or two.
“It’ll be nice to get back to some sense of normalcy here in the next few months,” Routley said. “It’s nice to be in a place where people can walk through the door again.”
For more information, call 715-718-2626 or message the Skin Deep Tattooing and Piercing Facebook page.
