​ADDICTIONS CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Twenty years ago, the tattoo culture was very different. Tattoos were still considered taboo by many and getting one in Fargo was difficult for some.

Denver tattoo artists Barbara Sutton and Stephanie Mont, who had lived in Fargo for a few years, were talking about opening a new shop in Colorado when a Fargo client of Sutton’s told her about the situation in Fargo. With more colleges than tattoo parlors, the city was a prime location for business.

Addictions Tattoo & Piercing opened in March, 1996, and began as a small one room shop at South Plaza on University Avenue. Mont ran the store while Sutton stayed in Colorado. “It was just me for about the first year and a half and then I took Trent on as an apprentice,” Mont says.

Trent Balvitsch, who was working as a bartender at the time, met Mont through mutual friends.

“He came and showed Barb his portfolio when she was in town one time and that was the beginning,”Mont says. Following his apprenticeship, Balvitsch became an artist at the shop. When Mont moved back to Colorado in 1999, Barbara Sutton’s nephew Brian Sutton took over her spot as an artist.

Balvitsch and Brian Sutton ran the shop for a few years, eventually taking over a larger space at South Plaza to account for the growth in customers.

It was Balvitsch’s dream to own his own business by the time he turned 30 and he accomplished this goal the very month he hit that three‐decade mark when he and Brian Sutton bought the shop from Barbara Sutton on October 1, 2002. “I made it by a hair,” Balvitsch says.

Brian Sutton moved to Boise, Idaho, where a second Addictions shop was opened in the late 2000s. However, the loose tattoo regulations made business hard to come by since people were able to get tattoos from people at home or at tattoo parties. After a few years, they called it quits on the second store.

“Unfortunately, the economy out in Idaho wasn’t that great at the time,” Balvitsch says. “Maybe it was just a bad timing thing.” While Boise’s economy was hit hard, with many flooding to western North Dakota for work, Fargo was thriving and so were tattoo parlors.

Shops were popping up all over Fargo‐Moorhead and have grown from only a couple when Addictions first opened to more than 10 today with a new one opening up every year or two. The taboo surrounding tattoos was growing thin.

Balvitsch contributes this to the success of reality TV shows, such as “Inked” and “Miami Ink.”

“When those TV shows came out there was a big spike of popularity,” Balvitsch says. “Tattoos, rock ’n’ roll, hotrods, motorcycles have always been around but seeing those TV shows gave it a big shot of adrenaline.”

These days you can see all walks of life getting tattoos. This popularity has allowed Balvitsch to see the tattoo culture cross generations in his almost 20 years as an artist.

“I’ve tattooed people when I first got going, I’ve tattooed their children and now, even some grandkids are getting interested.”

While TV has contributed to the success of Addictions, so too has Laura Sefkow who took over as co‐owner in Brian Sutton’s absence. She’s been an integral part of the business since joining in 2005.

“She’s the one that’s been holding it all together while I’m concentrating more on the tattoo part of it,” Balvitsch says. “She’s really been a big part of our business surviving as long as it has.”

The shop has now reached 20 years of being in business and is throwing a party as a special thank you to the Fargo‐Moorhead community and to all the clients who have helped keep the shop going over the years.

The party will be held at Mick’s Office in Moorhead on Saturday and promises a night of bar games, prizes (including coupons for tattoos and piercings), free drinks and a performance from Magic Josh.

“To be able to have the support of all of our families and all of our clients to keep this placing going for 20 years, that’s something to be pretty proud of,” Balvitsch says.

IF YOU GO

Addictions 20th Anniversary Party

Saturday, April 16, 7 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Mick’s Office, 10 Eighth St. S., Moorhead