Black Dragon offers skateboards and equipment, tattoo shop
VANDALIA- Harry Howard, owner of Black Dragon Tattoo and Skate, knows how frustrating it is when you can’t find the hardware needed to keep a skateboard running.
“Up this way, there’s not a lot of options,” Howard said. “There’s a big, nice skate shop in Kettering, but it’s a little far from here.”
That knowledge helped lead Howard to open Black Dragon, which features a full-service tattoo shop along with a fully-stocked skate shop, in the Imperial Shopping Center on West National Road in August of 2024.
“It’s dual-use,” Howard said of the shop, which includes approximately 1,300 square feet. “We do tattoos, and we sell skateboarding equipment.”
“It’s pretty even,” he said, “or a little more on the tattoo end, because that’s appointment -based.”
Black Dragon carries a full line of skateboarding equipment, including decks, trucks, wheels, risers and hardware, Shoe Goo and other supplies.
“I don’t want to be a big skate shop, I just want people to be able to get what they need,” Howard said.
The shop carries a wide variety of skateboarding gear, including trucks by Venture and Thunder, as well as wheels and decks from brands like Spitfire, Baker, Death Wish, Anti-Hero, Alien Workshop and others.
“It’s literally anything you could use to put a skateboard together,” Howard said. “I’m not trying to be a regular skate shop; I just want people to be able to get the things they need to put a skateboard together.”
A veteran skateboarder, Howard said he has been skating and building boards since the early 1990s.
“My first skateboard was not a conventional deal,” he said. “I made a skateboard from an old roller skate, which is pretty funny.”
Howard has also been tattooing since 1995, specializing in custom designs and bio-mechanical artwork.
“I’ve been a tattoo artist for 30 years,” he said, “so that’s the main focus for me.”
“I don’t try to do anything specifically,” Howard said. “I prefer to do custom; I do like higher-detailed things, and I really like bio-mechanical stuff.”
Black Dragon Tattoo and Skate is open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Sunday.
“I try to get in here as close to that as possible,” Howard said. “The best way to make an appointment is to text me (941-882-2565). Stopping in is always good, because in that case we can discuss what you would like to have done, and I can see it firsthand.”
Howard first started tattooing in Piqua, and currently lives in Union with his wife Katie, who owns and operates a tattoo shop called Revolution Studios.
“I started tattooing in Piqua,” he said. “I tattooed there for 20 years, and I’ve been to other studios in the meantime.”
“My wife and I moved to Union,” Howard said. “We opened a studio in 2017 called Revolution Studios, and in 2023 I decided to change it up a little bit.”
Black Dragon Tattoo and Skate is located at 710 W. National Road, in the southeast corner of the Imperial Shopping Center.
“Back in the day, it was a part of Stubbie’s,” Howard said.
Despite being a full-time business owner, Howard said he still makes time for skateboarding whenever possible.
“I still try to skate as much as I can,” he said.
Howard also advocates the idea of building a public skatepark in Vandalia, as a way to give local skateboarders a place to practice, and hang out.
“That’s another thing that I’m going to try to focus on for Vandalia,” he said. “I think every city should have one.”
“A lot of kids can’t just leave the city,” Howard said. “It would give the kids a place to hang out.”
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