Cutthroat Tattoo brings the ink to Second Street

At Cutthroat Tattoo, the priority is quality art in a comfortable atmosphere.

“We like for people to come in and feel comfortable. We go out of our way to make sure people feel comfortable, that customer service is really important to us as well,” Aspen Degenhardt says. “The last thing we want is for people to feel intimidated when they come in. We really go out of our way to make sure they feel welcome from their first step in.”

Cutthroat recently moved in on West Second Street, occupying the building that formerly was the Group B Art Gallery.

The business moved into the Flathead Valley 2-and-a-half years ago when owner and tattoo artist Thomas Titus opened shop in Bigfork, with a Degenhardt as his apprentice.

The two met in Rochester, Minnesota before moving to Montana.

In arriving at Bigfork, Degenhardt says the friendly nature of the town stood out from the start.

“I think the community was the big selling point for us to move here. When we first walked down Bigfork, everyone we walked past was, ‘Hello, hi,’ making eye contact. It was cool to be in an area where the community cared about each other, that to me is the most important aspect of this valley,” she says.

The business moved to Kalispell several months ago, where it operated downtown until the Whitefish location became available.

For Degenhardt, the location on West Second Street is perfect.

“We also like that we’re not next to a business that’s been there for 60 years and is like, ‘Oh great, a tattoo shop is next to us.’ We’re close enough to downtown to be considered downtown, but we’re also enough away to be respectful to other businesses without raising any hairs,” she says.

As a tattoo artist, Titus says the work is the obvious favorite part of his job, with “everything besides the art” as the more challenging aspects of running the business.

Having tattooed since 2003, he says there’s just something about the medium and different styles that set tattooing apart.

“It’s just my favorite medium — I love the effect I can get out of someone’s skin. It’s different than drawing on paper, painting. You just get a different approach. I get what I want out of it, I can make it look the way I want. Sometimes I can’t do that on paper or a painting,” he says.

The art also stands out to Degenhardt, but she notes the personal aspect of working with clients as a positive.

“I think the customer service aspect is my favorite part, next to the art of course,” she says. “Whether it’s a short 10-minute session or a five-hour session, you really get to know somebody in that time, because people are really vulnerable when they get tattooed, and it’s a really personal experience. It’s fun to get to know people that way.”

So far, Degenhardt says business has been booming.

The shop took part in their third annual Flathead Flash event, which offers custom designs at sale prices on a first come, first serve basis.

The duo tattooed 20 people on their opening day as part of the event, and say they had a socially distanced line of roughly 50 going out their door and down the sidewalk.

They’re expecting a strong summer, something they were already used to in Bigfork, and say they’re excited to see how things change when restrictions like the closure of the Canadian border are lifted.

And when he’s not adding art to his customers, Titus can probably be found along a river — a testament to the shop’s name, the cutthroat trout.

“We were trying to find a name that had a local element, but not too cheesy or cliché,” he says. “It has a cool ring to it for a tattoo shop, and I love fishing.”

For more information, visit https://www.cutthroatmontana.com/