Santa Barbara’s Energy Tattoo & Body Piercing Moves to the Mesa
Lower State Street Staple Relocates to More Intimate Spot on Meigs Road After Two Dozen Years Downtown
After 24 years downtown, Energy Tattoo & Body Piercing closed the doors of its historic State Street shop front in downtown Santa Barbara. Its golden logo will soon be peeled off the window, but this does not mean the end.
The shop, founded in 1999 by PJ Ferrante and his wife, Nic Ferrante, specializes in fine-line and single-needle tattoos, encouraging custom drawings for their clients. The artist-owned-and-operated shop places value in creating a sacred, spiritual space for its six artists to help clients achieve the look they want.
Last week, Energy traded out its white walls and red-bricked entryway for a blue, beach-house-styled space on Meigs Road. On State Street, the shop was wedged between Insomnia Cookies and the 99-cent store’s alleyway. Energy’s new neighbors include Mesa Burger and Sam’s to Go, making for a much quieter, more peaceful location among the sandwich shops.
With last week’s move, Energy has become the only tattoo shop on the Mesa. They took Monday and Tuesday to relocate, but there were no days off. Their soft launch was on Wednesday.
Sure, their lease was up and the rent downtown was unsustainable, but the shop also needed better, well, energy, piercer Sofia De la Garza explained.
De la Garza said that the vibes on the 400 block of State Street “changed drastically” since COVID-19 shut everything down. Energy was closed for about 12 months, and after that, they moved to appointments only.
“I feel like we became a much more spiritual, transformational, more boutique-style shop after COVID,” De la Garza said.
“It’s such a sacred thing for us,” she continued. “People come in because of trauma or transformation, and to feel not only good about themselves but feel like themselves in their body. That made us want to create a more homey, sacred space with less external stimuli.”
Their space on the Mesa is more intimate, which makes the body-modification process more personal, she added. But it also came down to doing business in a space where both the employees — a majority of whom are queer women of color — and their clients felt safer.
“Being on the Mesa also means we’re more accessible to our local clients,” De la Garza mentioned. “On State Street, Energy Tattoo had a very high flow of tourists.”
They want to open up the new space to host movie nights, art galleries, and other community-gathering opportunities every month. Their grand opening is scheduled for later this month, with a celebration planned for a date to be determined, but most likely around Thanksgiving.
Energy Tattoo & Body Piercing is located at 315 Meigs Road, Suite D. For more information, visit energytattoo.com. To book an appointment, DM @nrgtattoo on Instagram.
