Vancouver businesses benefiting from Swiftie mania

Taylor Swift is performing her first of three concerts Friday, and Vancouver’s businesses are feeling the buzz.

Deanna is the district manager at the Latest Scoop, a clothing store in Gastown. She says her store has seen a frenzy of fans.

“In the first minutes of opening, like 50 people [came] through the door on a weekday,” she told 1130 NewsRadio.

Part of the chaos is because her business is located right next to Vancouver’s iconic steam clock, which has been retuned — for the first time ever — to play the artist’s hit “Shake if Off” every 15 minutes.

A lot of Deanna’s customers are from out of town. Evett and Kayla drove from Central Valley, CA, to attend the concert.

“Actually, Canada was one of my places to come and explore, so I checked it off my bucket list, on top of the Eras Tours,” Kayla said.

Alisa, the supervisor at Lee’s Donuts in Gastown, says she hasn’t seen it this busy since the summertime.

Lee’s is catering to the crowds, with Taylor Swift-themed flavours.

“So there’s three. I think there’s Fearless, Speak Now, and Lover,” Alisa said. “We’re definitely selling out of those very, very fast.”

Big boost to local economy

Destination Vancouver says the concert series is expected to bring with it an estimated $157 million boost to the local economy

This forecast includes $97 million in direct spending on items including accommodation, food, and transport, the tourism body says.

It says the Eras Tour is expected to bring more than 150,000 Swifties to BC Place over the three shows from Dec. 6 to 8, and has resulted in more than 82,000 rooms booked across the region.

The tourism organization made the calculations with BC Pavilion Corporation, which operates BC Place, and says 70 per cent of direct spending will be from out-of-town fans.

As well, it says the economic boost will bring more than $27 million in total tax revenue for all three levels of government.

Thousand Sunny is among an abundance of businesses offering Swift-inspired promotions in Vancouver to mark her shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, closing out her blockbuster world tour.

You could enjoy a Swift-themed ice cream — “Chai Sugar Cookie (Taylor’s Version)” — at Rain or Shine in Kitsilano, and a Swift-themed cocktail or meal at a number of bars and restaurants, before catching a Swift-themed drag show on Main Street.

Professor weighs in

Jarrett Vaughan, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, said such promotional events provide a “spectacular opportunity” to reach current and new customers.

“As an entrepreneur, what you’re often looking for is unique opportunities to capitalize on business, and it’s not often where a whole city kind of comes together to celebrate something,” he said.

“It’s not frequent that we have the Invictus Games or the Olympics or FIFA or, in this case, Taylor Swift, where there’s such a strong movement, a cultural movement, almost near adoration or worship towards Taylor Swift that the whole city can get behind.”

About 160,000 people are expected to attend the three sold-out shows at BC Place, and tourism organization Destination Vancouver has said Swift’s shows will bring an estimated $157-million economic impact to the city.

Vaughan said he doesn’t think most businesses are primarily focused on maximizing profits.

“Rather, they’re focused on maximizing value for their customer base, and the result of that often is an increase in profitability,” he said.

Lululemon offering clothing deals

B.C.-based athletic clothing retailer Lululemon is another company offering deals to Swift fans.

Regional manager Katelynne Katona said the company is offering gifts of a clear belt bag and a friendship bracelet for the first few hundred fans who buy an item at Lululemon’s Robson or Pacific Centre stores on Friday.

The clear bag might come in handy as BC Place says any bags brought into Eras Tour shows must be transparent and no larger than 12 inches square.

Bars and nightclubs are embracing the moment, hosting Swift-themed dance parties, karaoke nights, sing-alongs, or bingo.

Taylor Swift — the drag show

The American on Main Street is one of several Vancouver locations hosting a Taylor Swift drag show.

“We just thought, what better time to do a Swiftie-themed drag brunch than when Taylor is in town,” said Pyper Geddes, the bar’s events manager.

The bar, which has partnered with local drag queen Alma Be for about a year, has also hosted Swift-themed bingo and karaoke this week. Sunday’s noon show will be narrowly focused on Swift’s “Reputation” era, Alma Be’s favourite.

“It just obviously makes sense geographically for us to cater to people who will be attending the event, but also to cater to (the bar’s) target market, which tends to be a little bit on the younger side (and) heavily influenced by pop culture and pop music,” said Geddes.

Vaughan said Swift’s shows were a rare marketing opportunity.

“I don’t think that we’ve seen something like this — aside from global sporting events or the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver over a decade ago — where we have such a cultural movement, almost like a cultlike experience for the fans,” he said.

He said Swiftmania also had the added value of teaching young fans about the possibilities of such entrepreneurship, calling it “an amazing opportunity.”

With files from Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press.