Friday the 13th of March 2020, was our last big hoorah before the State of California ordered us to cease all non-essential business. Our state was one of the earliest, and it seems even still that it might have been too late.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed naive idealism at our last big event, even as we noticed a much slimmer outpouring at our usually very busy Friday the 13th party.
In the few days following, we updated our policies to reflect the crisis as we understood it..
This strenuous new method of operating without receptionists in the building, artists wrapped up in gloves and masks, carrying spray bottles, lasted less than a week.
The news that we had to close was shocking and terrifying for us, as I’m sure it was for everyone affected by it (i.e. everyone.) We took a couple of weeks to reimagine ourselves as “more than just tattooists” and reframe ourselves once again, “artists.”
Dewey got back to work at an old hobby.
It became obvious quickly that we should continue to engage our friends, followers, and clients (a.k.a. the #SLCFam) in order to maintain a sense of connection and hope, and we did it the best way we could think of..
With stickers!
It’s not a lot, but it’s something, and incredibly, the SLC Fam continued to engage right back, all but promising us a future when all of this was over. 🙂
UPDATE #1
Hello Lovecraft Fam!
Just some updates for you:
On Monday, May 4th we will be conducting maintenance on StudioLovecraft.com and the site will be receiving a new look! Don’t worry if you don’t recognize it, it’s still us!
The invoicing system may be temporarily unavailable, but the front-end store will definitely be offline for a couple of hours to a couple of days. Thank you for being patient as we launch our new store!
Pandemic News:
Our tattoo room is still closed 🙁
This has been a scary and traumatic time for ALL of us. While our artists were able to make a living wage while our doors were open (thanks entirely to you,) none of us are rich and the studio has not been able to acquire any benefits from the stimulus package to compensate our staff, or cover our expenses.
During this troubling time, reception has individually contacted over 60 of you to postpone every appointment we had excitedly made at an earlier, happier time.
And just like everyone else, we are awaiting updates, hurting and hoping, as we continue to reach out to clients through May.
NEVERTHELESS..
We take COVID-19 seriously, and will not take part in the spread of disease and death or endanger others by acting against the recommendations of the CDC. If your appointment has been postponed, thank you for standing strong with us. You have not been forgotten, and your tattoo has not been cancelled, only postponed!
Thankfully, because of the generosity and support we have continued to receive from our incredible clients, (SLC Staff + Fam = <3 !) we are confident Studio Lovecraft will make a FULL COMEBACK when this is over. (Seriously, you guys are amazing!!)
As such, we are revamping our online store and developing new promotions including..
– Re-opening enrollment of the Cult of Cthulhu! Membership Program (with expanded benefits!)
PLUS
– Special surprises for those of you that have continued, and will continue, to make payments on your invoices, place deposits for new pieces, and make purchases at StudioLovecraft.com during lockdown to say THANK YOU.
So stay tuned and STAY SAFE! We <3 you all!
xoxo Studio Lovecraft 🙂
UPDATE #2: May 2, 2020
We sent a letter to our Instagram followers on May 2, 2020 that pretty much summed up the experience we’d had while we were all but incommunicado.
The stimulus package ran out of money for small businesses, and was refunded with the Paycheck Protection Program that we don’t qualify for. In the end we experienced deep anxiety as Governor Newsom’s promises didn’t come through for us (though we are glad other businesses were able to get the support they needed, and hope everyone else does as well.)
At the same time, we were humbled by the generosity of the friendships we realized in relative strangers.
As of the date of this post, we are still working on updates and workshopping rewards for our generous supporters and promotions for tattoo hopefuls.
Keep an eye out for updates, because as we all know, we aren’t of the woods yet.
Thank you for reading! <3