History and the shop
Quick reading: Terry Ribera founded Remington Tattoo in 2011 after an apprenticeship at Master Tattoo.[1] SDVoyager, in December 2017, said the shop opened in July 2011; the official site announced a grand-opening party for 8 October 2011.[2][3]
Opening in 2011
Two public sources, of different kinds, place the shop’s start in 2011. Terry Ribera’s official biography says that in 2011 he founded Remington Tattoo after moving to San Diego in his early twenties and completing an apprenticeship at Master Tattoo.[1] The 20 December 2017 SDVoyager interview is more specific about the month: it says the shop opened in July 2011.[2] This wiki therefore uses 2011 as the opening year and July 2011 as the month given by the interview, with the official biography as the first-person account of founding the shop.
An official grand-opening-party post invited people to celebrate on Saturday, 8 October 2011, at 8pm, “between Lefty’s Pizza and Mosaic Wine Bar,” with a band, River City, listed for 8pm sharp.[3] A mid-year opening and an October party can both be true. This wiki does not treat the party date as a rival opening date.
Work before Remington
Ribera’s official page says he grew up in the Bay Area, moved to San Diego in his early 20s, and completed a formative apprenticeship at Master Tattoo before opening his own shop.[1] The 2017 interview also names Avalon Tattoo among earlier workplaces.[2] This reference records both statements. It does not invent dates for those earlier jobs, because neither source, in the pages reviewed, gives a start or end year for them.
The first room and the present address
The 2017 interview describes an original shop of just under 600 square feet and, later, the purchase of a building across the street, which the interview calls a 1930s Spanish building.[2] Both the interview and the official shop page give the current public address as 3009 Myrtle Avenue.[4][2] The shop page, separately, says the building was built in 1914 and restored in 2011.[4] Those two construction descriptions are not silently merged here. They are reported together on the name-and-building article.
Why the shop is called Remington
The official about page and the 2017 interview both say the shop is named after the Remington typewriter of the 1900s.[5][2] The about page also says the interior is meant to recall a post-industrial-revolution 1920s workshop, and the shop page describes a mix of industrial and modern with an apothecary or artist’s-studio feeling.[5][4] Those are design statements, not a claim that the building itself is a preserved 1920s workshop.
Common questions
Is July 2011 or October 2011 the opening date?
The interview says the shop opened in July 2011. October 8 was a grand-opening party announced on the official site.
Did Ribera only work at Master Tattoo before this shop?
His official bio names Master Tattoo. The 2017 interview also names Avalon Tattoo.
Has the shop always been at 3009 Myrtle?
The interview describes a smaller first location across the street. The current published address is 3009 Myrtle Ave.
See also
Sources cited
- ^ a b c Terry Ribera (official artist page). Remington Tattoo Parlor (remingtontattoo.com). Retrieved 9 November 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f Meet Terry Ribera of Remington Tattoo Parlor + Gallery in North Park. SDVoyager. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
- ^ a b Grand opening party, 8 October 2011. Remington Tattoo Parlor (remingtontattoo.com). Retrieved 9 November 2026.
- ^ a b c The Tattoo Shop – Remington. Remington Tattoo Parlor (remingtontattoo.com). Retrieved 9 November 2026.
- ^ a b About Remington Tattoo Parlor. Remington Tattoo Parlor (remingtontattoo.com). Retrieved 9 November 2026.