Two in five millennials have at least one tattoo, according to a 2010 study by the Pew Research Center.

In 1936, LIFE magazine reported that one out of 10 Americans were tattooed.

Marko Grunhagen, a business professor, said the prevalence of getting tattoos among young people could be reflected by how many tattoo shops are in Charleston.

There are currently two tattoo shops in Charleston, but one closed in late January because of a lack of business.

Tony ‘Twotimes’ Ledbetter, the owner of the Lead Web Tattoo Studio, said he opened his studio in Nov. 2012, but only eight people came in for tattoos.

“I had a large clientele in that area,” he said.

Ledbetter said his studio, formerly located at 410 7th St., was in a good site.

“I was downtown on the Square, you know,” he said. “I was behind five bars.”

Grunhagen said he thinks tattoo studios are a combination of retail and service business.

“The three most important things in business are location, location, location,” he said. “When you look at the two existing businesses and then you would assume that the other one had a locational disadvantage because it was the farthest from campus.”

Johnny Wilder, owner of Poor Boys Tattoo, said he thinks location does help with business but not necessarily with his studio.

“The location even being right next to the college, it’s still real hidden because we don’t have any window space,” he said.

While the majority of his business comes from students, he said, being a reputable business helps more than location.

“I think being established helps a lot more because there’s still people who walk in here and are like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know this was a tattoo shop,’” Wilder said.

He said in the past, his business came 70 percent from students, but since Eastern’s enrollment has been down, he has seen less students walk through the doors.

“This year, I would say it’s about 50/50,” Wilder said.

Randy Stuff, the owner of Wea Ink, said he is noticing the low enrollment at his studio.

“Two to three more years of enrollment being at its lowest…” he said, shaking his head. “Three to four more years at its lowest, there will be no Charleston.”

Grunhagen said along with low enrollment, not every student will get a tattoo in the four years they are on campus, or if they do, they may only get one.

“There’s probably a segment of the population that is not in college that gets an occasional tattoo or maybe get their whole bodies tattooed,” he said. “But I’m assuming a good portion of that would be students. Even that gets split pretty easily—some students get them back home, some get them here.”

Tattoo businesses need to think about their market, Grunhagen said.

He said he thinks tattoo studios could flourish in a college town like Charleston because of the youth-dominated market and the turnover rate.

“I think a business like that is clearly looking for a younger market where it’s more common to get tattoos and to have tattoos, so I think a college town is appropriate,” Grunhagen said. “The question is: how many tattoo parlors can a college town of our size support?”

He said maybe Charleston only has enough business for two tattoo studios.

“I’m assuming a town of this size with the students that we have, maybe it only supports a couple of tattoo parlors and three was too many,” Grunhagen said.

Ledbetter said although he was only in business in Charleston for three months, he would not be coming back.

“I lost a thousand dollars, and I was out,” he said.

Wilder said business slowed down more this year than the past couple.

“We’ve definitely felt pressure from that, but we’ve had a lot of clientele from outside towns that keep us in business,” he said. “So we’ve survived through the pretty harsh times here in Charleston.”

Wilder said even though he is competing with another business, he feels no competition with Weak Ink.

Stuff said as of right now, there is enough business for the two tattoo studios.

He said he has sacrificed everything for his business because he is passionate about tattooing.

“We’re trying to be that light in the dark for people,” Stuff said. “A tattoo is more or less a mark of time in your life. Whoever applies it has that opportunity to make it a good one or bad one.”

Amanda Wilkinson can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].