Iron Horse Tattoo Company: A Man And His Art

NOTE: Click underlined highlighted words and phrases to hear Mike Mezzano elaborate on issues.

IRONWOOD, MI - Monday, January 21, 2008 - Sandwiched between Hitt's Fine Furniture and the Northern Lights Photography Studio on Ironwood's main street (Aurora) you'll find the Iron Horse Tattoo Company. This impeccably clean, well-run business is owned and operated by Mike Mezzano, a native to the Ironwood/Hurley Area. "Tattoo" Mike as he is more commonly known these days, attended and graduated from the J.E. Murphy High School in Hurley.

Years back, Mezzano packed his bags and said `goodbye' to this place he called home. He moved out west, and when he arrived in California he got his first tattoo, believe it or not, at a shop called "Tattoos by Mike!" That's when he became interested in the tattoo business. Mezzano learned "the ropes" as an apprentice  to the artist that first inked him.

He opened a jewelry store in Goleda, California. His new store featured turquoise and Native American style jewelry, pottery, and various Native American collectibles. Business was going very well, however, Mother Nature got in the way! A mudslide completely destroyed his fledgling operation before it could reach it's full potential.

Mezzano became frustrated after he saw the extent of the damages, and he decided to quit the jewelry business. He went to work as a meat-cutter and even became a journeyman. But cutting meat just wasn't his thing. As soon as he could swing it, Mezzano found other work. Prior to his return to northern Wisconsin, he also worked as a maintenance man in California.

After arriving back in Hurley 34 years ago, he opened his first tattoo shop there. After two years in Hurley, he decided to move his shop into the old Iron Inn building, downtown. In addition to tattoos, the Iron Horse Tattooing company offers branding; body piercing; body jewelry; t-shirts and other "typical Tattoo studio stuff!"

Branding is not a huge part of Mezzano's business. Mezzano said the main reason why branding isn't as popular here is that the effect is not as pronounced on lighter-skinned people. "It shows up better on darker-skinned people. They have a tendency to heal with an off-white or a pinkish look which gives them a much more brilliant brand, as opposed to whites or lighter-skinned people. We don't show up as well. Of course, tattooing on lighter-skinned people shows up better than darker-skinned people." Mezzano explained, "You'll find branding to be really, really a lot higher in use in southern areas, more so, or mass populated areas, you'll find it too!"

Mezzano said there are several different ways that people can be branded. "I do what they call `surgical steel branding' which is actually a surgical steel bar and they're formed, bent, twisted into several different forms and shapes. And you do `piece branding,' meaning you use several different things to create the brand that you are doing." Mike said there are companies that sell smaller versions of brands just like those used on cattle, but he wouldn't recommend them because they do too much damage to the skin due to the fact that the heat is too intense on one specific area.

Mike said he really enjoys the work he does, and if he had it to do over again, he would. The only thing he would consider adding, however, is airbrush painting – not so much the body type as the object type.

Tattoo art offers a unique feeling, according to Mezzano. "You can only draw so many roses. And you can only do so much to change a rose. But you do get a lot of people now that are looking for unique, one-of-a-kind tattoos. And this makes you be a lot more creative. I think the only drawback I have with my tattooing is when I finish a tattoo, I always sit back and look at it and go `I could have done it a lot better than I did it!' I never get quite satisfied with what I am doing. I always want to do more to it."

Roses, flowers and butterflies will always be the most popular tattoos, because women seem to want something small and delicate, according to Mezzano. However, other designs seem to run in cycles – Asian designs, dragons, skulls, etc. are ordered frequently – depending on the current trends.

Mezzano estimates that he has done two million or more tattoos throughout his career. In addition to creating his own designs he also does `flash tattoos' which are previously created designs similar to a graphic artist's clip art. Customers choose the design they like off of the wall or a computer and he duplicates that design for them. Mezzano says a growing part of his business is correcting or repairing "botched tattoos" from "unskilled" or "untrained" amateur artists. He says these unlicenced businesses need to be closed down because they are a risk to the public health. "As much as the State is stepping in, making sure that the big shops are regulated they're not regulating the guys who are doing them out of their house, or whatever – those Gypsies that travel through – which is where the State really needs to step up to stop some of the bad work and the infections that are going around."

Mezzano cautions that all tattoo shops are required to be licenced and inspected by the health department in both Michigan and Wisconsin. "I don't believe that the few places that are operating over in Hurley – in the Hurley area – are licenced or inspected."

ON THE DOWNTOWN DISTRICT

Mike Mezzano told me he believes Downtown Ironwood is a nice area. He praised the buildings and the businesses that are here. "We have a lot of things that would attract people to the downtown area. We need a lot of change. We need to attract more businesses here. But, still, it's still a nice area. It's a good shopping Metro for this area. And actually if you take into consideration the surrounding areas of Hurley, Bessemer, Wakefield, we do have the nicest shopping district downtown. We don't have the businesses to make it a great shopping district. But we do have probably the nicest and biggest shopping district."

"The downtown's weaknesses are both a plus and a minus. Our Downtown Development Association and our City fathers don't seem to be working to attract businesses down here. We can't have – or we aren't getting businesses coming in here with increased water rates; increased taxes – this isn't going to attract them. We have people out here – and I'm not trying to be negative when I say things like this – but hanging flower pots, hanging welcome flags do not attract businesses. They don't attract people who shop. People who shop, come to shop for items. Downtown Ironwood has become a `destination shopping Metro' and that's a bad thing. We don't have people who walk the town to shop. People come here... they go to Mattson's... they buy their refrigerator or their stove. They go to Hitt's or they go to one of the other furniture stores – Al's, Constantini's – they buy their furniture... they leave. They come to my shop... they get tattooed... they get their piercing... they leave. Now, yes... some of them go and they have something to eat... coffee at the restaurants, but they're not walking and shopping. They're not going around to the other things because we don't have that. And as the Downtown Development should be doing, and so should the City fathers, they should be progressively working to attract cottage industry businesses into our area."

Smaller ticket items; a clothing store or two; a novelty store, like Spencers; a youth store selling baggy pants and skateboard gear; a hardware store would all be good additions to a "new" downtown according to Mezzano. "The Downtown Development Authority should be doing something to attract businesses that aren't here. When I say that, I mean... don't go out and try to get another furniture store here. We don't need it! Don't try to get another appliance store here! We don't need it!" If they were properly enticed and educated about the Downtown Ironwood Business District, Mezzano feels there are many businesses that would gladly locate here.

He believes it is vital to compile a list of properties in the downtown that are either for rent or sale here. Such a list, Mezzano says, would be a valuable tool to pitch the City's downtown to outside interests.

Mezzano also believes that a strong and active Chamber of Commerce is necessary for a strong and active downtown business district. He said when he opened his jewelry business in Goleda, California, the Chamber of Commerce gave him a `welcome packet' that included free membership in the Chamber until the beginning of the following year. Also included in the packet were certificates for free advertising in several of the local newspapers and radio stations. Virtually every business in town placed coupons for free goods and services in the packet. Several of the restaurants and coffee shops gave coupons for free meals that included notes welcoming Mezzano and his new business – saying that they were anxious to meet him. "It was the only Chamber of Commerce I have ever been involved with, which every business person in the City was a member of the Chamber. That Chamber worked hard to make the people want to be a part of the Chamber."

Mezzano insists that maintaining storefronts and business buildings in the City is crucial to a successful downtown. He says that strict ordinances need to be enacted and enforced to make sure that property owners keep their buildings in good repair. He warns that we cannot allow the buildings to deteriorate to the point where we'll never get any new businesses to locate here.

Signage is badly needed according to Mezzano. "I have people who make appointments from out of the area who can't find downtown. I mean, they'll end up going down the highway. And I've had people who call me on their cell phones saying, `Well, we're here! And we can't find you because we don't know where downtown is!' They think where K-Mart is and all the highway is, is downtown." He went on to say that the current sign on Douglas Boulevard needs to say specifically what is downtown. "It says `Downtown' and it says `Shopping' and it says `Restaurants' but it doesn't tell you what's downtown. They could the antique shops listed; they could Ben Franklin's listed; they could have my tattoo shop listed; Mattson's Appliance..."

"You can't have people coming looking for us if they can't find us!" Mezzano went on to say. Although he'd be willing to pay for his own sign, he believes it should be the responsibility of the City or the Chamber of Commerce to gather the information.

I asked Mike what sales pitch he would use to sell the City of Ironwood to an outside business investor. He made reference to the proposed Towering Pines Hovey project in his answer, "That would be hard for me, because at this time, I don't know that I could – with knowing what's going on in the City – if I could actually give an honest pitch to attract business to the City. I think that we'll find that the City fathers are attracting `non-investors' to do things here – and when I say `non-investors' I mean places like – for instance – these new rental apartments that are coming in. They're coming in; they're getting almost next to nothing `in lieu of taxes' payment; they're getting a decreased water rate; they're probably getting... I'm not positive about this... but they're probably getting low interest loans through the State or Federal government to build these, which means no taxes – no money coming in here. So we have somebody who is making a lot of money and nothing is coming into the City for it."

Last year, the City of Ironwood sold eight acres of City-owned land to the Hovey Companies, LTD., a private land developer from DeWitt, Michigan. Hovey is scheduled to build a 48-unit apartment complex on the property. According to company spokesman, Tim Hunnicutt, MSHDA will fund 50% of the project, and the other 50% will be financed through a private bank. In order for MSHDA to approve the project, the City of Ironwood signed PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement that relieved Hovey of all State, City and County property taxes. Instead of paying conventional real estate taxes on the $5 million plus project, Hovey would only be required to pay the City $9,000 per year.

Mezzano also questioned the benefits to the City for the Wal-Mart project. Since the project is located in the township, taxes will be paid in the township -- the City will see no benefit according to Mezzano. Likewise, the money they pay for their water is paid to the township -- not the City. "The small businesses, the local businesses – we're the people that do the advertising. We're the people who do the donations. Wal-Mart, Walgreens, K-Mart – they don't do donations! When's the last time you opened up a yearbook and saw a Wal-Mart ad or a Walgreens ad or a K-Mart ad? They don't do that!"

Although many local retailers fear their grand openings, Mezzano doesn't believe Wal-Mart or Walgreens will greatly impact his business in any way. "My business is strictly a destination business. They come here for me – and that's what they come here for!"

"Well, I like the area in general. And I think there's a lot more positive – even though I may have sounded a little negative – I think it's a positive area. I enjoy being in the tattoo business, and the piercing and branding business. It's, for me, it's not just a business it's something I enjoy doing. I've always said, and I've said this for years and years and years, if I was a multi-millionaire I'd probably sit here and do them for free, because I enjoy doing it. I think Ironwood and the Hurley area have a lot to offer – a lot could be going on here. It's just, you need to start getting everybody involved – not just three or four people, and don't listen to just three or four people – you need to get the entire community, as far as the businesses involved in everything. Maybe you need to drag them by the ears, to the meetings, to get them there, but that's how you get things changed. That's how you're going to get things to start to grow in this area." He went on to suggest that Ironwood and Hurley should work together to create "joint events" and "joint advertising." Instead of having separate smaller events, it would be better to work together and make bigger, better, more attractive events to draw larger crowds to the area. "I've talked to a couple of people who come up for the Paavo Nurmi who don't even know that Ironwood exists!"

It's strange, he says, but they've never come across the border to shop! "It's going to take work, and if they don't get everybody involved in it... it's just not going to fly!"

Jim Albert