Strange City

What Alex said. Consider boycotting them.

HORRIBLE business. I can’t sit here and say bad things about the artists at Strange City… because I didn’t even get in for my appointment. It would see the entire staff of Strange City were forced to leave. And not a soul was contacted when this happened. So my advice? Any owner/​manager that runs a business like this, should expect poor results. I wouldn’t go here if I was you. Stay away.
And FYI if you are looking for Ryan who was an artist there:

Update: Unfortunately, the owner of Strange City has forced all of it’s employees out with no explanation. They have also taken down their Facebook page because too many people were calling out this poor behaviour… they don’t want any bad publicity.
I will no longer be giving Strange City my business as I have built a relationship with the old staff (who I will now be tracking down to continue the work that was being done), and do not trust these recent developments. It is really too bad as I loved Strange City and the old staff.

Recently, the entire staff of Strange City were forced to leave indefinitely. I do not know the details. They had originally posted a couple short messages on their Facebook page, but that has recently been removed. (Edit: Some information can be found at
though it is posted anonymously, and
where some of the former Strange City staff speak out.)
I had a tattoo appointment scheduled for the end of March, and no attempt was made by current staff to contact me (or the other folks I know with pending tattoo appointments) outside of that Facebook post. (What if I showed up a couple weeks from now only to find my artist gone? What if I’d taken the day off work to get it done?! This is NOT how you should run a business!)
I have been going to Strange City for many years, and had an incredible trust in the staff. Their quality of work, professionalism, and customer service kept me coming back. I will miss the staff, and unfortunately will no longer be visiting Strange City for my body modification needs.
The nitty-​gritty details of my last visit:
I spoke to the shop owner, Rick, about getting a refund on my gift card, which I had originally intended to use during my next tattoo session. The shop was technically still open, and jewelry was still available to purchase, so I suspected that my request may be refused. Instead of stating «no,» which would have been understandable, the owner instead fed me some BS as to why they could not pull up the gift card information on the computer, and that the money may have already been paid to my tattoo artist (which did not make any sense, as I hadn’t spent the GC yet). I left confused and frustrated; I don’t like making a scene or outright telling someone they don’t make sense, especially in their own establishment. I returned later that day and purchased some earrings — I did not want to go through the hassle of attempting to get my money back, or risk losing it if the shop outright closed. I guess they didn’t have trouble pulling up the GC information when I wanted to purchase something! Go figure. (I will also mention that it took two staff members over twenty minutes to find the price of those earrings … wow!)
I also asked the shop owner for the contact information of my tattoo artist, and he gave me a sloppily-​written e-​mail address with an abbreviated domain. (Edit: I was not able to contact my tattoo artist via that e-​mail, he ended up contacting me through the telephone.)
During this time, folks were coming in and getting pierced by someone who definitely did not work at Strange City before. Who knows who this guy was — maybe he is an excellent piercing artist, maybe not. He *was* available within a couple days of the staff leaving, and that sends up red flags for me, personally. It would be incredibly unfortunate if people were coming into the shop to get pierced based on the reputation of the old staff, especially given that the credentials of this new artist are unknown.
In general, I found all of this experience to be very uncomfortable.

I have been to strange city a few times. I had my eyebrow pierced there about 6 years ago and have gone back since for new jewellery. They have nice jewellery which is different from most piercing places and the best part is that they are very high quality implant grade. For someone who is a sensitive, this is great.
I had almost all of my jewellery replaced a couple of weeks ago, and one of the piercer’s helped me remove and insert the new ones. I just walked in, so that was really kind. My only complaint is that they are a little pricey, I spent about $ 300 for 6 pieces of jewellery. Otherwise I am happy.

My experience with Strange City was a very good one. I was in to get an piercing and was quite nervous to say the least. The receptionist was fantastic about keeping me preoccupied and the piercer Ryan was fantastic and professional and extremely knowledgable. I’m quite sure my piercing days are behind me but if I ever change my mind I would go back to SC in a heartbeat.

This place is great ! I have been going here for 4+ years and have never had a complaint. Staff is always really friendly, and this place is extremely clean. I don’t know too much about the tattoo side of this place but I have always been happy with the piercing that has gone on here. All the jewelry is high quality and they have a great selection with the option to order in if you don’t see what you like.

I personally really did not like it here. When I got home, I noticed my piercings where not ligned up with each other! (I got my right side of my nose pierced so i now have one on each side) It took her FOR EVER to pierce it. I was in the room for a good 20 — 30 minutes plus its over priced in my opinion. Like 40 bucks for a nose stud? THATS INSANE! Plus there was s 35 $ piercing charge. If someone calls and asks how much a piercing is, don’t say 35 $ if it’s more then that! I went in with 40 and had to borrow money from my mom (I was 15 at the time) Plus she never explained to me how to get it out and my mom’s genius friend tried to push it threw my nose. Ended up in the ER getting 8 freezing shots in my nose so they can remove the Jewlery. Thank you for royally fucking up.

I have nothing but positive things to say about strange city.
I got 2 out of my 3 tattoos here and I couldn’t be happier with either if them. My first experience was really good. I was getting my tattoo in a somewhat private area and my artist was very professional and made me feel very comfortable.
The second experience with this tattoo shop was even better. My previous artist had left and so I was paired up with someone new. I had designed a word that was an ambigram (where it looked the same way right side up and upside down). My artist took this information and said he would see me in a week and we would talk.
I went back in a week and what he had for me was terrible! He admitted it himself and said he hated it and wanted to start from scratch. He didn’t charge me for the extra time he took to redo it, even though it was not his fault. After one more week, he had perfected it and I was in love with it! I had to budge a little on my original idea, and I am so glad I did!
The studio is very clean and the artists and receptionists are so professional. I would never go to another tattoo shop.
I am loyal to Strange City!
If you go in, ask for Mike King. He was the artist for me the second time around, and really put in the time and effort to make the experience amazing.

I did a lifestyle story on body art years ago when I was working for a local publication. I interviewed these really cool guys and saw first-​hand what a safe, sterile and sanitized work environment they keep. They even have a window into the tatoo/​piercing studio so you can see the sanitation process before you decide to get work done here.
They’re very conscientious, and hip in their line of work. They don’t have generic tattoos plastered all over the shop. It has the feel of a studio, spa and art gallery, and the vibe is chill. I’m not into tatooing, at this point, but I go have a belly pierce and they’ve got a small but good variety of navel jewelry. All of the products are made of the highest quality stainless steel and titanium. They also sell really cool wood and bone earrings. If I were to get a tattoo, I would come here. The artists do custom work and you can get a feel for their styles and see their past work, before choosing to work with one of them. If you don’t know much about piercing or tattooing, come here and you will be guided through the process safely. Some jewelry studios import is not of a high enough grade to put in healing piercings, and they don’t sell any of that here.