Fire destroys Commonwealth Avenue tattoo shop
Coffee Matters main hub closed, multiple businesses, bank affected by Easter Sunday blaze
A tattoo shop was destroyed in a fire that broke out on Commonwealth Avenue in Mount Pearl around 11 p.m. on Sunday.
Firefighters and owners of adjacent businesses arrived to find the tattoo shop, Elite Tattoo Studios, engulfed in flames. An inspector and a lone RNC cruiser were the only vehicles on site Monday following the blaze, which destroyed the Elite Tattoo Studios and left various levels of damage — with some heavy smoke damage — to adjacent operations, including Coffee Matters.
The tattoo studio was filled with burnt items, the ceiling was collapsed from the blaze and water used to douse the flames, and the windows were shattered in front of the shop. The sign that runs across the front of the store was damaged.
The parking lot to the plaza was closed to the public, as police tape blocked off one end and bright orange pylons the other.
Doors were open at Barkley’s Pub, two doors down from the blaze. There were also a few people walking in and around the area, and it appeared there was someone in the RBC location that anchors one end of the plaza.
Scott Hillier, owner of Coffee Matters, one of two locations next to where the blaze originated, was there Monday morning waiting for Service Master to arrive and assess his operation.
“Right now I would guess we will be closed at least two weeks,” Hillier said.
“This impacts us big time. The Department of Health has been here twice already today and they tell us because we deal with food, everything we have in here has to be thrown into the dumpster.” Hillier said this location is the central hub for Coffee Matters, serving as the prep kitchen for products that are sold in the other stores.
Standing in the main lobby of Coffee Matters, there is a strong smell of smoke, a few singe marks on the walls of the banquet room and, looking through the ceiling tiles near the tattoo shop, the beams were black with soot.
“There will be electrical issues for everyone here, as the main wiring for the plaza goes through here,” Hillier said, pointing it out through the open ceiling space. He is not sure what the other locations will do, but he has already started looking for a temporary space to get back up and running, a pop-up operation for now, and a spot to do the cooking required for the other stores.
The Telegram attempted to reach the owner of Elite Tattoo Studios, but has not been able to do so, in addition to other businesses in the plaza that include Barkley’s Pub, Fairway Insurance and the Royal Bank.
The RNC is investigating the blaze.