UPTOWN — Tattoo Factory regularly inked one or two Cubs tattoos a month in the past, but since the team's historic playoff run started, those numbers have really picked up, artists said.
In the last week, the shop has done about two dozen Cubs-related designs, said Mike Baalke, who has managed the shop at 4441 N. Broadway for the last 15 years.
"It's a lot of men, 40 to 50 years old, who have been waiting their whole life [and] a lot who have moved out of Chicago and are back in town for the games," he said. "It's a souvenir they can't throw away."
But he says it's actually been a "good mix" of people who have come in, and women have also been getting inked.
"Ladies are also getting the Cubs logo right now. We get it when the Blackhawks are winning too ... whatever team is winning at the time," he said.
Tattoo factory isn't the only shop seeing an increase in logo tats. The World Series has definitely been a bump, other North Side shops said, though numbers are hard to come by because shops employ a number of artists.
At Chicago Tattoo and Piercing Company, 1017 W. Belmont Ave., which usually gets Cubs requests only sporadically, artists have done at least a dozen in the last week.
"Every time there's a big win, we get an influx," said owner Dale Grande, adding he expects more if the team wins it all. "It depends what happens by the end of the series."
While there has been an uptick in tattoos at the shop, walk-ins are still welcome at the Tattoo Factory.
Most of the tattoos have been of old team logos, which cost anywhere between $80 and a couple hundred dollars to ink depending on the size. Most take between 30 minutes and an hour to complete, he said.
The fans haven't been adding "World Series champs" or the date to the art, but the shop expects that could change if the Cubs can turn the series around and win.
"If they win then people are going to put dates and add things like that," Baalke said.
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