Leaving a mark on the local businesses

By: Emmi Rubera

During the pandemic, local businesses such as tattoo shops were greatly affected, but not in the way you might assume. Businesses such as the Pink Armadillo in Brockport had to shut down for three months due to the pandemic but after they reopened business picked up for them.

The Pink Armadillo is one of the many local tattoo shops in the Brockport area. They, just like every other business had to shut down during the pandemic. They shut down for three months and when they were able to reopen, they were busier than they’ve ever been. 

The daughter of the owner of Pink Armadillo, Courtney Infantino, who has been piercing for about 20 years says business has skyrocketed since the shutdown and the pandemic has increased business for local tattoo shops such as Pink Armadillo. 

“We shut down for about three months when it was mandated, so when everything shut down, we shut down too but to be honest when we opened back up, we were busier than we have ever been,” says Infantino.

Infantino says that since this shop was locally owned, and her dad owns the building they did not have any other extra expenses that held them back from staying open after the shutdown like other shops. Because of this they had people from hours away come to this small shop.

“The owner actually owns the building, so he is not paying rent or anything like that, so we were able to stay open without having to worry about anything like that. People from all over came to us because we were one of the few places open. Other places were not doing under the mask piercing, but we still were which also helped with the business, “says Infantino.

Many tattoo shops already had strict sanitation processes before the pandemic started so once they were able to reopen the policies were basically the same as they were before. The only thing that changed at the Pink Armadillo was they put a table outside with a sign-in sheet.

“As far as the guidelines and cleaning goes nothing changed for us because most of us already wore masks and were cleaning the same as normal, we just limited the number of people allowed in the shops at once. Typically, everyone has their own rooms, so it is all separate. The whole waiting room would get filled so when the pandemic happened, we put a table outside that blocked the door and had a sign-in sheet for anyone that showed up,” says Infantino.

The pandemic changed the way businesses operated. The pandemic forced closures, shortened staff, and created limitations for businesses but not for the Pink Armadillo. There was hope for this local business. The Pink Armadillo was able to survive and thrive throughout the pandemic.