Adam Pietras originally planned to work a half day on Thursday.
Pietras is a tattoo artist at Dakini Tattoo Art Collective on Snyder Avenue near 12th Street. On Thursday, the shop was only supposed to open for part of the day to give the staff time to set up for this weekend’s annual Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention, considered the one of the world’s largest such gatherings.
That was the plan, anyway, before the Eagles won Super Bowl LII.
Normally, the Thursday before the convention is reserved for setting up and loading materials into the Convention Center. But as soon as the Eagles beat the Patriots Sunday night — and especially when the city announced a victory parade for Thursday morning — Pietras knew this week would be busier than he thought.
“The moment they won,” Pietras told Billy Penn, “we had customers texting us, asking for tattoos.”
Pietras wasn’t the only one getting calls. Eric Amicone of West Philly’s Everlasting Art Tattoo said real Eagles fans were coming in for ink as soon as the playoffs started.
“We have a lot of regular clients who are fans,” Amicone said. “And they’ve actually been calling and asking, ‘Are you going to do any type of special?’”
So despite the convention, Pietras kept his shop open on Thursday to catch the countless fans celebrating in South Philly. He ran several parade specials, various original Eagles-inspired designs that ranged from $60 to $120 (more if you wanted it on your hands or your neck).
“With the shop being two blocks from the parade route, there was going to be a lot of foot traffic down Snyder,” Pietras said. “It seemed like a good opportunity.”
Pietras inked three Eagles tattoos after the team won on Sunday, he said, and two more Thursday during the parade.
For his part, Amicone has been tattooing the traditional Eagles logo at a discounted $80 price for two weeks now. Everlasting has sent at least two Eagles-tattooed customers out the door every day for the past four weeks, he estimated. But there were “quite a bit more” done during the parade.
Unlike most tattoos, which are thought out far in advance, many of Thursday’s appeared to be impromptu decisions, Amicone said.
“The people that come at the last minute,” he explained, “they’re all excited for the parade, excited for the win, excited for Philly.”
Additionally, Amicone said, many people who initially got Eagles tattoos a few weeks ago have returned, and are now asking him to add the Super Bowl logo, the Lombardi Trophy or the roman numeral for 52.
“Now people…are coming up with every idea,” Amicone said, noting he’s getting requests for many more football-related designs than usual. “They want an original Philadelphia Eagles tattoo.”
Pietras’s specials expired after Thursday’s parade, but he hopes he’ll do lots of Eagles tats at the convention this weekend.
Amicone, on the other hand, said his special is indefinite — as long as people keep coming in for Birds tattoos, he’ll keep doing them at a discounted rate.
And there’s no telling how long that could be.
“Since it’s the first one in 60-plus years,” Amicone said, “this may last another six months.”
