ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A tattoo business in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg is closing its doors this week saying current economic hardships for customers and hurricanes Helene and Milton led to the decision to permanently shut down.

Legend Ink opened in 2021 and after a handful of years, its owner says it’s time to move on.

“The tattoo industry I noticed dived and probably, late May, mid-May [2024],” said Peter Bogdanov, owner of Legend Ink, “and we didn’t really feel it until the end of June.”

According to Bogdanov, they were down 70 percent compared to the previous year and then came hurricanes Helene and Milton.

“The math just doesn’t, it doesn’t add up when there’s that many variables going bad,” he said.

He says with the current state of the economy, along with the storms, hardly anyone has been coming to the shop.

His home was devastated by Helene, which Bogdanov said had a foot of water inside destroying many of his art pieces from over the years.

By the time Milton made landfall, he says he was ready to call it quits.

“By the time the second one hit,” Bogdanov said, “I just told my wife to pack the car and that we were going to go back to California.”

So, that’s what he’s doing.

He’s selling off some pieces of the shop, only keeping Legend Ink open for appointments until closing for good on Nov. 29.

“The cost to run and develop this business could not afford a double hurricane,” Bogdanov said. “It’s as simple as that.”

He plans on splitting time between San Francisco and Florida and says he plans on reopening a place locally next year — just a little further away from downtown.

Bogdanov says his son will manage the new shop that will reopen in 2025 while he focuses on the new shop he’ll open in San Francisco.