In the early 2000s, as the wave of tattooing began to take over the country, freestyle motocross legend Carey Hart opened a tattoo shop, Hart & Huntington, in the Palms Casino, Las Vegas. But this wasn't your typical tattoo shop. Turning the tables on tattooing, Hart’s tattoo shop focused on a clean, safe, and pretty cool environment with some of the top artists in the biz. People liked stepping into stunning spaces where they felt safe getting inked. This new concept opened the door to people who otherwise may have avoided getting tattoos in shady shops.
The concept took off. Hart & Huntington started popping up in other tourist destinations. So, when the Orlando shop opened in Universal Orlando’s City Walk it seemed like a natural progression. And, Stephen Csombok was there from the very beginning watching it all unfold. As Hart & Huntington’s marketing director, Stephen has seen first-hand the evolution of both tattooing and the shop. In fact, Stephen and his good buddy Chris Turck, the managing partner of Hart & Huntington, were a fixture in the Orlando shop from the moment it was being built. The two even took some of the projects during the build into their own hands (literally), which is nothing new for Chris and Stephen who live, sleep, and breathe H&H.
"When Orlando was being built out, Chris and I were on site often. One night we were hanging the speakers on the wall, Chris was at the top of a ladder that was tilted up against the wall at a terrible angle, and the thing slid out from under him. I was like, Chris is dead!. Luckily his ass landed right on top of the curved, tattoo flash countertop, in a sitting up position. It's always fun during the build out process, but its always something too."
