By Canadian Press

swifties unite

From Taylor Swift tattoos to ice cream, Vancouver businesses have you covered

Dec 6, 2024 | 11:16 AM

VANCOUVER — If you’re looking for a permanent reminder of Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour concerts in Vancouver, long after the friendship bracelets have been traded, tattoo artist Jen Van Houten literally has you covered.

She’s offering themed tattoos including red lipstick, paper airplanes, a “Karma” cat and a slithering snake — all knowing references for true Swifties — at all-day promotions at Thousand Sunny Studio on Pender Street on Friday and Saturday.

Customers will have to choose from pre-made designs to maintain a tight schedule allowing just 20-30 minutes for each tattoo.

Van Houten said she wanted to provide fans with an indelible memento of the shows.

“Taylor Swift has created such a huge community among so many different people,” she said.

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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.

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.

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 visit 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.

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 cult-like 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.”

Tattooist Van Houten, a Swift fan herself, said she might make her Swift promotion available on Sunday, depending on demand.

She said a tattoo was another way to bring Swift fans together.

“And that’s the fun part about tattoos is you can you walk down the street, and you see something on somebody and recognize it, and stop them and you talk to them, and it creates kind of a sense of community.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2024.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press