Lynchburg Business

Lynchburg Ink

Issue: June 2010 by Mitchell Malcheff in Cover Story, Retail

When David Casper started Caspian Tattoo 19 years ago in 1992, he didn’t have much competition—just one other shop. From the beginning, the business grew as tattoos became more mainstream in the late ‘90s. Today, Casper competes with six other local shops, if you count Madison Heights. Despite the added competition, business is booming not only for Casper but Studio7Ink owner Margie Maddox.

Maddox set up shop two years ago in the Forest Crossing Center on Rt. 221 and has since grown from one artist to a staff of seven that includes piercers and receptionists.

“I saw the money potential in it,” Maddox said of the business that she started after selling furniture for nine years.

Though tattoos may still come attached with a less than savory stigma for some, Maddox says her clientele runs the gamut.

“We’re in Forest, in Bedford County, and there’s a different group of people here…I get all different types of people here, but more of an older crowd,” Maddox said. “It’s clean, it’s organized, it’s safe, it’s more family-oriented… someone’s grandma would be comfortable coming here.”

Maddox says an emphasis on service has led to her success.

“Every customer should be waited on immediately, so in order to have good customer service, that’s just the key. Once you have that, the rest will follow,” Maddox said.
She also says she is constantly looking for ways to set her shop apart from the competition. For example, Maddox sells Hardnox Clothing, a Roanoke-based line that proudly touts their anti-establishment roots and uses the tagline, “A Refreshing Punch in the Face.”

Casper’s foray into “body modification” came out of an artistic background. The 10-year Army infantry veteran holds an art degree and was exposed to art at an early age by his mother, an oil painter. He believes that the steady growth of the tattoo industry in Lynchburg is at least partially linked to the growing acceptance of the art form.

“Unless people have been tattooed, or have been in a tattoo shop and talked with people that work there, a lot of people just don’t understand the whole tattoo scene,” Casper said. “They think it’s still a military or biker type setting, but I think with shows like L.A. Ink or Miami Ink, it’s done a lot to expose the general masses to what tattooing is like.”

According to Casper, at one point in the mid- 90s, tattooing was the fastest growing industry in the U.S. and, at its height, a tattoo shop was opened every day.

“We stay just as busy now, but back then, it got to a point within a few years where it was almost overwhelming; we were constantly booked up for weeks,” he said.

Casper points to a changing demographic as one of the main reasons for the industry’s growth.

“The demographics are wide…that’s what happened in the ‘90s—the demographics started to change. Women started to get tattooed a lot more,” he explained.

Bankers, doctors, lawyers and professors have all been inked at Caspian over the years as the shop has grown from just Casper and one other artist to five. According to Casper, the shop has been successful because of a willingness to stay current.

“With any business, if you’re going to be successful, regardless of what you do, you have to have a good grasp on business concepts. The way things have changed and the way
demographics have changed…I think one of the reasons we’ve been as successful as we have been for 19 years is that we’ve changed with the business,” Casper said.

Casper started in a private studio off of Timberlake Road with a 10-year plan that included an emphasis on becoming a part of the fabric of the Lynchburg community.

“I built my business slow and steady. One of our goals with the studio was to be a fixture in the community, so if you live in Lynchburg we want you to say, ‘Hey, Caspian Tattoo is the local shop—that’s where you want to go. They’ve been around forever,’” he said.

To accomplish that goal, Casper has moved from what he terms entry-level advertising to promotional partnerships that make Caspian visible in the community, such as Caspian Tattoo Night at the Lynchburg Hillcats and the Hill City Halloween Tattoo Ball and Convention.

Though he has more competition than he used to, business is steady and Casper says his time in the industry has been a “wild ride.” A ride made even more fun, he says, by never knowing just who might walk through the door.