Adrenaline is closing its Toronto Queen Street W. location after nearly 20 years because of financial difficulties. The closure stems in part from a post-COVID wave of self-designated tattoo and piercing artists who often lack proper training and, in some cases, city licences. Short courses at tattoo schools are producing entrants without apprenticeship experience, undermining industry standards and posing public health concerns. Pandemic lockdowns and reduced foot traffic from Ontario Line construction also harmed revenue. Adrenaline's Montreal and Vancouver branches will remain open. Calls are made to shut down or properly educate and license unregulated practitioners.
A pillar in Toronto's tattoo scene is saying goodbye to his iconic shop with a few parting words on the standards in his industry. Joey Nixon, a founding partner at Adrenaline, says he's shutting down the Toronto location of his tattoo and piercing shop after nearly 20 years on Queen Street W., citing financial difficulties. Adrenaline's Montreal and Vancouver locations will remain open.
Those difficulties, Nixon says, emerged at least in part from a wave of new tattoo artists setting up shop after the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists he says lack training and, in some cases, are not getting city licences. "A lot of people through boredom, picked up machines, picked up needles and all of a sudden decided to designate themselves tattoo artists or piercers at the peril of the rest of the industry," he said.
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