Mark Roberts of Marlborough is the owner of the busy tattoo shop located at 160-B on Main Street in Deep River. His many tattoos on his own hands and arms make it obvious that Roberts is sold on tattooing; even though when he points to his own tattoos, he does so, a bit self consciously.

Tattooing these days is no longer an activity catering only to sailors on leave and the working class. Now having a tattoo is almost preppy. Also, many women, young and old, these days adorn various parts of their bodies with tattoos.

On a recent Sunday afternoon at the “Fine Line Tattoo Parlour,” three tattooing artists were busy at work. Roberts, himself, was tattooing an intricate design of waves of water along the sides of a young woman’s feet.

 

In a second chair in the shop, tattoo artist Jay Kelly of East Windsor was also busy. Kelly, who has spent 17 years in the trade, will soon be working full time in Roberts’ new tattoo parlor in West Hartford.

In the third tattooing chair in the shop, tattoo artist Melissa Stolzmman was updating and enhancing an existing tattoo on the chest of former Marine Corps Sergeant Jeff Beno of Westbrook. Stolzman has 15 years of experience in the tattoo trade.

Talkative and friendly, the shirtless Beno served in Iraq with the Marines, and Stolzman is adding an American flag backdrop to one of Beno’s existing tattoos. Another of Beno’s tattoos paid tribute to his former wife, and Beno says he is going to have it removed.

The kinds of tattoos which are popular these days  

“These days everyone wants a custom designed tattoo,” says shop owner Roberts. “It used to be that people wanted eagles, hearts, daggers, and other traditional designs,” such as the American flag. “Now everyone wants something different,” he says, although tattoos of Jesus remain popular.

There are even “photo reality” tattoos these days, which are tattoos of a portrait of an actual person. As for the clientele of a tattoo shop, Roberts says, “We do lawyers, judges, policemen, and we did a tattoo for a dentist the other day of a smiling tooth.”

One tattoo that Roberts cautions against is having a tattoo with the name of a current girlfriend or boyfriend. “It might change,” he says. “We tattoo names, only if the name involved is a blood relative,” he says.

As for tattooing young people under the age of 18, Roberts says that “parental consent is always requested.” Though he adds, “I am not the morality police,” as to whether people should get a tattoo, and, “I don’t get paid to say no.”

As for the cost of tattooing at the Fine Line Tattoo Parlour, a small tattoo, or a touch up of an existing tattoo, can cost as little as $60. More complicated designs cost as much as $100 to $150 dollars, and even more.

It is a firm policy at the “Fine Line” shop that the tattoo artist will first tell the customer exactly how much his or her tattoo is going to cost, before the work begins.

As for who is getting tattoos these days, according to Roberts and Kelly, roughly 25% of their customers are women, and the remaining 75% are men. Also, three quarters of the people getting tattoos are retouching their original tattoos, or adding new ones.

There are also times when tattoos can serve a very worthy purpose. After a woman has had a mastectomy, drawing a nipple appearing tattoo on her breast can be very important. “These tattooed nipples can be lifesaving,” Roberts says.

The micro-dermal, tattooing process

Roberts describes a tattoo as a permanent cosmetic, or a “design sketched into the skin.” More technically he says that a tattoo is, “a micro-dermal pigmentation that is injected into the skin.”

In applying a tattoo, first, the spot on the body where the tattoo is going to be placed is washed thoroughly with soap and water. Next, an outline of the desired design of the tattoo is sketched by the tattoo artist on to the customer’s skin.

After this pen outline is finished and has dried, a sterilized tattooing needle is injected into the skin with “single use” ink, and the actual tattoo is put into place in the skin. It takes roughly a week for a new tattoo to heal. During the healing process it is important to keep the tattoo clean. According to Roberts, there are rarely any infections caused by tattooing.

Removing at tattoo is difficult

A major characteristic of a tattoo, which adds to its sense of daring, is that tattoos are designed to be in the skin forever. They are extremely difficult to remove. Touch ups consisting of more tattooing can be done again and again, but removal of a tattoo is very different story.

Two kinds of techniques are used to remove tattoos. (1) An existing tattoo can be covered over with another tattoo of a darker color, or (2) a tattoo can be removed by a plastic surgeon using a laser treatment. However, Roberts belittles this treatment, saying, “You can still see it,” or at least the outline as to where the tattoo once was.

To become a fully competent tattoo artist can be a long process. Roberts said that he spend five years as an apprentice in the trade, and his colleagues in the shop served many years of apprenticeship as well.

As for the ambiance of a modern tattoo parlor, It reminds one of a friendly bar or an old fashion barber shop with everyone chatting away. Also, Roberts emphasizes getting to know his customers, “and establishing a relationship of trust.” As for how the tattoo artist feels, Roberts says, “Giving a tattoo to a person is a performance for the tattoo artist,” he says.

The tattoo shop in Deep River, which was founded in 1980, is the oldest tattoo parlor in the state. As for its present Deep River location, Roberts says, “We will always be here.”

Finally, although “not a piercing shop,” Fine Line Tattoo Parlour does some skin piecing. The most common is piercing the navel and attaching a tiny barbell.

“I really don’t like to be classified as trendy,” says owner Sage Novak,  referring to her very successful men’s store, Anchor & Compass, located at 163 Main Street in heart of Deep River. “I feel I am anything but,” she says, terming the clothing theme in her store as “conservative and traditional New England.”

Also, she says, “A large portion of my guy customers are working class folk that come in for the Carhartt brand, T-shirts,” and “I work hard to convey an ‘every man’s’ image.”

To burnish this image she even holds “beer tastings” at the store. Also, the store’s slogan is, “A Store for Guys.”

Inside, it is easy to navigate Anchor & Compass. Each name-brand line of clothing has its own discreet sales area. Among the most popular, especially for the over 50-years-old set, is the “Old Guys Rule” line.

These T-shirts carry sayings on their fronts that poke fun about getting old, and remembering the glory days of youth. Some customers have whole collections of the shirts, saying such things as, “The older I Get, The Better I Was.” “Old Guys Rule” shirts are $24 for a T-shirt, and $28 for long sleeves.

Another popular brand, which features shirts displaying fishing humor, comes from the “Fish On!” company, located in Chester, Connecticut. These shirts cost $24 for T-shirts and $29 for long sleeves.

Yet another popular men’s clothing line, carried by Anchor & Compass, is the Old Harbor Outfitters from Block Island, New York. Old Harbor makes outdoor apparel, as well as fishing gear. One specialty is a wide selection of fishing knifes. The knives sell for $10 to $24 a piece, and Novak says, “We sell tons of them. They make great gifts.”

“We also sell tons of flannels every Christmas season,” she says, “and flannels never go out of style.” Over the past Christmas season, Novak reports, the store sold close to 200 flannel shirts. Their price range is from $49 to $59.

Selling the “layered look” for Guys

Speaking of flannels the savvy shopkeeper suggests to her customers that they might like the “layered look.” This look consists of first putting on an ordinary shirt, then covering it with a flannel, and then over them both a shirt jacket.  There are other layered look combinations as well. Shirt jackets go for $79 at “A Store for Guys.”

At one point while touring the store, a fashionably dressed woman came in and asked, if she could make a few returns. It turned out that the woman did not have just a few returns, but seven of them. All of the items were still in their original boxes, and some had not even been unwrapped.

It turned out that the woman’s husband, before the big holiday, had explicitly told his wife, “Do not buy me any clothes for Christmas.” However, the wife, thinking she knew best, blithely ignored this instruction, and bought lots of them. Now she was forced to return them.

While this was going on, the woman tried to make conversation. “Maybe I should exchange my husband rather than the shirts,” she said, attempting humor.

With no sign of displeasure whatsoever, store owner Novak removed the seven items from their boxes, and went ahead and restored their full cost to the woman’s credit card.

After the woman left, Novak pointed out that many stores offer only “store credit” for returns. However, at Anchor & Compass the policy is to give a full refund, as long as the purchaser has a receipt.

“Most people exchange stuff,” Novak says, but getting full credit for an unwanted purchase is still an option at the store.

Among her favorite items in the store, Novak calls attention to the Leathermen Limited line. The company is based in Essex, Connecticut, and offers a variety of canvas belts, flip-flops and key chains. Featured in the store as well are rows of men’s pants, a wide variety of sweaters and lots of T-shirts.

Adding a good citizenship quality to the store, Anchor & Compass offers a 10% discount on all merchandize purchased by volunteer firefighters and emergency rescue volunteers, whether they come from Deep River or beyond.

Not only are sales on the increase generally at the store, Novak is particularly pleased that more and more men are purchasing clothing.  The present gender breakdown at the store is that about 60 percent of the buyers are women, buying clothes for men; and 40 percent are men, buying clothes for themselves or for their best buddies.

If this ratio could even out to 50-50, Novak would be a very happy. As an inducement to get more men into the store, she has built a large, man sized fitting room. Also, she may give men shoppers just a little extra attention in making their purchases. After all it is, “A Store for Guys.”

The overall growth in sales at Anchor & Compass is truly impressive. Sales in the month of January, to date, are running 56 percent higher than they were over the same period last year.

Big Selling Seasons, Christmas and Father’s Day

As a general rule the store has two big selling seasons each year. One is during the run up to Christmas, and the other are the shopping days before Father’s Day. Since Anchor & Compass focuses on men’s clothing, it has an especially big boost in sales before Father’s Day. It is so big that Novak calls Father’s Day “a second Christmas.”

As for staff at the store, Novak pretty much runs the place on her own, although she has two part time helpers, both from Deep River.

Novak feels anchored in Deep River, and she has, if you will, found her compass in the town. In starting up her venture a year and a half ago, she received encouragement from Deep River First Selectman Dick Smith, and both Smith and his son are customers. Also, in remodeling the store Novak is proud that she used exclusively local labor.

Among the things that she likes about Deep River is that her kids can walk to school, and, “I love the quality of life in the town.” Beyond that, “I want people to enjoy the store. I love just love it, when people run into other people that they know, while they are shopping here.”

Novak is a native of Deep River, and sometimes refers to herself as “a river rat.” Not only did she grow up in town, her family used to own the Deep River Marina.

Not that Sage Novak has always had happy times in her life. In June of 2008 her husband, who was a college sweetheart, died in a car accident, leaving her with two daughters, aged four and one. “I took off a year to heal,” she says. “Still, I don’t believe in wallowing. You have to go on and enjoy life in the time that you have.”

Finally, the name of her store, Anchor & Compass, has a special meaning for Sage Novak as a person.  As you get to know her, she just might share it with you.