Now We Know It’s Gone Mainstream

Contra Costa Times

October 2, 2008
Section: News

Glenda Edwards is a 62-year-old retired Concord resident who has been wanting to get a tattoo for decades.

She shows her sense of style with dangly earrings, red toenails and purple purses. But she plans to make a more permanent fashion statement with an ankle tattoo commemorating her law degree.

She will sit for the dye needle at the Zebra Tattoo & Body Piercing shop that opened in September on the edge of downtown Walnut Creek’s pedestrian retail district.

“I grew up in the sixties and did all the hippie stuff, but tattoos weren’t ‘in’ so much then,” said Edwards, as she pointed out a scales of justice design she liked. “I’ve always admired the young girls with tattoos on their backs right above the jeans line. Tattoos are beautiful art work.”

Shop owners Moe and Siobhan Delfani, who are longtime Walnut Creek residents, opened the business in their hometown with a partner after 18 years at their Berkeley location. The suburban store has a much different look and feel from its “industrial” urban counterpart, Siobhan said, noting the vintage furniture and tasteful decor including a red chandelier that gives it a sort of boutique atmosphere. Clients can recline in black leather chairs or on tables in private rooms with flat screen TVs, plush red drapes and antique mirrors. The place still has an edgy vibe, with zebra patterned rugs, black floors, gray walls and retail displays that include jewelry, purses and other accessories ranging from sweet to naughty.

“We tried to make it really beautiful and pretty,” said Siobhan, 46, who has spent much of her off time as a parent volunteer at local schools. “It’s vintage with a twist.”

The couple decided to open the Walnut Creek shop based on the large number of clients from Contra Costa County who trekked to their Berkeley store, said Moe, 47, whose most recent tattoo features the names of his wife and two children in a band encircling his arm. About 1,500 of the 4,000 customers they see each month in Berkeley come from cities along Highway 24, Central Contra Costa, the San Ramon Valley and more distant areas, he said.

Tattoos and piercings have become more mainstream in recent years and have gained popularity through the TV shows “Miami Ink” and “LA Ink,” the Delfanis said.

“Tattooing used to be a form of rebellion,” Siobhan said. “It’s a rite of passage now, with sisters, celebrating a divorce, a wedding, or a new job. Things have definitely changed.”

Siobhan, a native of Ireland, sports a crown tattoo with a Celtic cross on her ankle. She got it when she was 40, during an outing with girlfriends who also put indelible statements on their bodies.

Customers these days range from 3-week-old babies whose parents want their ears pierced to 75-year-old seniors seeking to express themselves, Moe said.

“We have firemen, police officers, bankers, lawyers and soccer moms,” he said. “Our first customer in Walnut Creek was a local 46-year-old mother of three. She got a butterfly tattoo on the bikini line.”

Several customers at the shop last week said they appreciated its cleanliness, including needle sterilization procedures. Zebra discards piercing needles after one use and has allowed the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control to test its jewelry to ensure that it doesn’t contain lead or other harmful metals, Moe said.
Charly Defrancesco, who had his ears pierced at Zebra’s Berkeley shop, said he was happy with a “California” stomach tattoo he got in Walnut Creek.

“I really like it, it’s cool,” said the 25-year-old Danville resident. “I think there’s a market for that kind of edge out here.”

Walnut Creek Councilwoman Sue Rainey said she hadn’t visited the store yet, but she agreed that a tattoo and piercing business fits well into the city’s thriving retail scene.

“You see very upscale people having tattoos and body piercings,” Rainey said. “We’re delighted to have any new businesses coming to town.”

Reach Theresa Harrington at 925-945-4764 or tharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com.