Tattoo parlor thrives on word-of-mouth

Whatever you call it, if you walk into Main Street Tattoos in Edgewood, chances are you will bleed.

A strict, professional regiment has guided this small business enterprise to fore of the tattooing industry in Harford County.

“We have a saying around here,” says Main Street tattoo artist Dan Edel. “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten.”

Main Street has thrived for more than two decades, and is often the best referral in the county for tattoo seekers. Edel estimates that about 60 percent of Main Street’s clientele walks into its Edgewood parlor because of word-of-mouth.

“Three of my neighbors recommended Main Street,” said Forest Hill resident Terri Quick, who recently sat at Main Street for a tattoo of a flower, surrounded by the names of her daughters Madison and Emma, by artist Josh Hart.

Founded by Stew Ehrhart 22 years ago, niche business Main Street Tattoos has thrived despite increased competition along the Route 40 corridor, because of the high standards Ehrhart demands of his artists. Ehrhart requires all of his tattoo artists to apprentice for extended periods before they have the opportunity to lend their own “permanence” to the trade. Ehrhart said Main Street also takes health code regulations regarding the use of sterile equipment very seriously.

Another reason for Main Street’s popularity is directly related to the parlor’s credo. Clients pay more than they would at other parlors, but in exchange they get quality workmanship and free touch ups.

A study published this summer in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that about 24 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 80 have tattoos.

Main Street opened its first set of doors on Main Street in Elkton. The business moved to Edgewood in the 1990s, and more recently, has opened a new parlor in Stewartstown, Pa. — fittingly enough, on Main Street.

“It was an old butcher shop and it has a huge window for people to walk by and see what we are doing,” Ehrhart said of the Stewartstown parlor.

More information

» Main Street Tattoos

1812-J Pulaski Highway

Edgewood

410-676-TAT2

» 6 S. Main St.

Stewartstown, Pa.

717-993-0828