A new tattoo shop and retail storefront will open at 7925 SE Stark Street in the former Maintain Yourself PDX space on the historic downtown Montavilla main street. Blackfang Tattoos and More will have space for five resident tattoo artists, along with an all-ages storefront featuring works by local artists, stickers, clothing, plants, and jewelry.
Owners Alyssa Black and Gerrit Smith live blocks away from their new shop and have strong ties to the neighborhood. Smith previously worked from a tattoo shop located in the back of Pinky PDX on NW 23rd Avenue. However, he trained to become a tattoo artist in Montavilla at the now-closed Forbidden School of Body Art, whose storefront is currently home to Sanctuary Tattoo and Piercing. With their growing family living in the neighborhood and the couple’s history in the community, opening a shop on SE Stark Street became an attainable dream, materializing at just the right time for Smith, who was considering a change. “It is something we talked about for years, but then we bought the house in Montavilla, and I had always said if I ever opened a shop, I’d want to be in Montavilla because I just love this area,” recalled Smith. “Then we walked by and saw this place that looks pretty cool.” The couple initially assumed it would be too expensive, but the landlord worked with them to make it happen. “Very serendipitous, I think,” said Black. “The stars aligning and something opening up six blocks from our house at the right time.”
Smith inks under the name Happy Fangs Tattoo, but did not want the new shop to only reference his work because up to four other artists will rent rooms in the space for their tattooing businesses. In choosing a title for the space, they used a concatenation of Alyssa Black’s last name and Smith’s business name. “I’ve done art under the name Happy Fangs for 15 years, so it’s just something we always talked about if we opened the shop, we would combine the two and call it Blackfang,” explained Smith. “Just as a happenstance, if you think about the image of a black fang, it looks like a tattoo needle,” added Black. Currently, two other tattoo artists have rented space in the new shop: Zoe Cox (@zmctattoo) and Collin Horner (@bonedoctor.tattoo).
The storefront portion of the business will need to wait until early 2026, with the storefront mostly open during appointments. However, they want people to feel comfortable coming and interacting with the space. Smith says they intend to line the hallway walls with works by local artists in a gallery format. Additionally, Smith positioned his studio and chair in the shop’s front window so that passersby can see the work underway, provided they draw back the privacy curtain. Making tattoos approachable is essential to the way Smith practices his craft, influencing the need to have a shop attached to the business. “I think that’s one reason why we want to have the retail spot. We want it to feel non-intimidating. We want it to feel comfortable to walk in,” explained Smith. “That’s one thing I learned about working at Pinky in the back of the retail space. There are so many people who I did their first tattoo ever because they came into a retail shop, and said, ‘Oh, wow, tattoos. I’ve always wanted to get one, but I’ve been intimidated to walk into a shop, and here I am standing in one.’ And they get tattooed. So I just wanted to create that kind of level of comfort walking in the door.” When the retail space is ready, they anticipate opening Wednesday through Sunday. Until then, they will open the doors while clients are on site for prescheduled appointments.
Black and Smith have several ideas on how they will keep the storefront active, even when the tattoo chair is empty. “We also want to do events here. We want to have art shows, possibly music shows. Just different things,” said Smith. They also plan to offer temporary tattoos for kids or anyone looking to try out the look without the commitment. They expect that service to be in high demand during next year’s street fair.
Eventually, the shop will support walk-in customers for tattoos, which will occur sporadically until they establish regular hours. The owners recommend that customers schedule sessions with individual artists working from the space via their Instagram links. Smith’s work (@happyfangstattoo) covers most styles of tattoo, but he prefers botanical themes in black ink. “Mostly black work, but I like doing color. My favorite thing to do is my own version of floral. If people ask me for a specific flower, I’ll do it, but my favorite thing is to make up a flower. Flowers are so endlessly different and crazy that you can kind of do anything and it looks like a natural flower, no matter how wild you get with it,” explained Smith.
People walking along SE Stark Street should start to see increasing activity in the storefront leading up to a grand opening event. Black and Smith recommend following the shop’s Instagram account, @blackfangpdx, for updates on the event and retail opening, with a company website launching closer to the new year.
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