About Avant-Garde

Avant-Garde has one of the longest histories with Body Piercing in South-Eastern Wisconsin.  With combined experience dating more than 35 years back, Avant-Garde has a lot to tell.

The Beginning

Avant-Garde as a company started in January 1999 in Watertown, WI. shortly after Jim Melotte, having sold a very notable shop on Milwaukee's fashionable east side.  Having established a Watertown store, Jim began receiving complaints that water town was too far to go.  So Jim and his business partner at the time came to West Allis in July of 1999 looking to establish another shop.  They found a vacant store front at 7219 W. Greenfield Ave.  The business has been located at that address ever since.

A New Future

After of number of years Jim's former business partner decided to leave the business and a newcomer stepped up, Brent Holmes.  He had been around the shop for years at that  point and Jim took him on as an apprentice.  As the years went on Brent  began buying percentages of the business and has now become an equal partner.  Together the two found renewed vigor in a time of drought and ended up purchasing the building from their former landlord.  After an exhausting, three year remodeling which sometimes felt like reconstruction, they completed all remodeling projects in late 2006.  To this date it is the most clean, sanitary, and hi-tech piercing facility in South-Eastern Wisconsin.

The Business expands

In late 2001 and early 2002, Jim and Brent began searching for new locations to expand their business.  At first they began to look back to Jim's roots, the east side of Milwaukee.  Not finding a suitable location there they decided to look a new direction, and break the mold once again, by opening in Downtown Waukesha.  At first, almost no locations had everything that Brent and Jim were looking for, until one day they met Scott V.  Scott owns and operates American Tattoo, LLC., and has done so for over 20yrs.  After speaking with Scott, Brent and Jim had made a decision, they would open up inside of American Tattoo.  The shop officially opened in May of 2002, and have been there ever since providing high quality service to the City of Waukesha, and to the surrounding community.

A Picture of the inside of the waiting area.

 

The main register area.

 

A picture of the piercing area.

The front counter of the Waukesha Store.