By Jennifer Farnsworth
Aurora Tattoo Society can now be found on Henry Street in Saratoga Springs, relocating from West Circular Street.
It’s a move that owner and tattoo artist Michael Bruce said gives him more space to provide the service that he loves, while being safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Everything was good there all the way up until COVID and that’s when I realized that the location was too small to try to continue our growth. With all of the new regulations due to COVID, I started to look for a new location while out of work. Not knowing if or when I would be able to open back up, I took the leap and poured all of my savings into the current location at 73 Henry St. in Saratoga,” said Bruce.
Bruce moved into the new space in May, in hopes of being able to reopen. The new space allowed him to implement new protocols such as taking temperatures upon arrival, sanitizing work spaces and adhering to contact tracing guidelines.
“We also turned our shop hours into appointments only, due to the COVID regulations. So far everything has been going very well and we’ve been back to business as normal as we can be in this day and age. Our location permits us to have a lot of space between each of our artists and clients so that was the main reasoning for relocating during the pandemic,” said Bruce.
The shop has three other employees—husband and wife duo Kyle and Rebecca Martineau and Irene Brockway. It also has space for guest artists. They offer professional tattoo services, as well as body piercing.
Bruce has been working as a professional artist for 13 years, starting out as a partner and owner at Legends Tattoo Co. in Troy. He then worked at Mark tattoo in Albany, Bloodmoon collective in East Greenbush, and the Pirates Den in Waterford.
“I was basically helping everyone else grow except myself. So after a long time of learning I finally decided to make the leap and open up my own shop. I moved from Troy to Malta about two years ago and decided to look for a location in Saratoga. After looking for a couple of weeks I found a space on West Circular Street in Saratoga and opened up shop,” said Bruce.
“I have lots of aspirations but my main goal is to make sure that my employees have a safe and secure workplace for the long term. And also that our clients have a safe and sterile environment accompanied by a memorable experience,” said Bruce.
The company website is www.facebook.com/auroratattoosociety and the phone is 518-450-7047.
