ST. LOUIS — The public library held a birthday party for pop icon Taylor Swift this month. It warned that “the artist will not be in attendance at this event.â€
Still, almost 600 visitors flocked to the . They danced, decorated tote bags, created fanzines and listened to a panel of “Swiftie scholars.â€
“This is a way to capitalize on people’s interest in her as a cultural touchstone,†said Mary Meyer, the library’s manager of digital services and creative experiences.
Swift may have snubbed ºüÀêÊÓƵ on her Eras Tour, but ºüÀêÊÓƵ has not snubbed her. The mere invocation of the Grammy winner’s name has drawn the faithful to roller rinks, community centers and concert venues. A lit up the Armory in October. A in St. Charles County threw a party for her birthday. And the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center is closing out the year with a on back-to-back nights, deep cuts included.
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The first leg of the Eras Tour is estimated to have injected $5 billion into the U.S. economy, according to market-research firm QuestionPro. Consumer spending has been more indicative of a milestone occasion than a standard night out, experts say; retailers, restaurants and hotels have basked in the afterglow. The city of Glendale, Arizona, generated more revenue from the tour’s kickoff in March than when it hosted the Super Bowl two months earlier.
“If you’re looking at it from a brand perspective,†said Mark Mayer, a professor of marketing at Indiana University, “it’s like lightning in a bottle.â€
Swift sells, whether it’s cake frosted in or tongue-in-cheek football jerseys.
“It’s so next level,†said Elle Eppler of Dardenne Prairie, who introduced Swift wrapping paper — dozens of varieties, $12 a pop — to her Etsy page a couple months ago. It quickly became a bestseller.
Mayer explains the performer’s impact to his business students by comparing it to Harry Potter or Beatlemania. His is far from the only university to cover the entertainment juggernaut. Mizzou, Harvard and NYU, among others, are teaching Swift-related courses.
“There’s a lot of trying to answer the question: Why is this such an incredible phenomenon?†Mayer said.
Bracelets and shoe charms
Roxanne Provence of Rock Hill thinks it’s because the billionaire superstar has managed to stay relatable, crossing genres and appealing to multiple generations.
Provence, an elementary school teacher, has been enamored with Swift since the 2006 release of her self-titled album. She used to play the CD on repeat in the car; now, she has “fully indoctrinated†her two kids, ages 5 and 9.
Like many ºüÀêÊÓƵ fans, Provence traveled to catch shows this year in Chicago and Kansas City. But she also spent locally, snapping up stickers for her laptop, posters for her classroom and a shadow box to display her collection of friendship bracelets, the adornment of choice for diehard Swifties.
Crafters in ºüÀêÊÓƵ have stamped Swift’s silhouette and song lyrics across any blank space: headbands and socks; playing cards and air fresheners; even foam clogs.
Shoe charms that invoke the songwriter’s totems — butterflies, karma cats, the number 13 — sell for $5.50 at . Hilary Licata launched the business out of her Maryland Heights home about a year ago, but found her footing over the summer with the plastic Croc pendants. Orders have been steadily rolling in since.
“The hype’s still up,†said Licata.
Heather Cosgrove of St. Charles offers about three dozen T-shirt styles through her , but she also takes custom requests.
“People want them for local places that hold Taylor Swift events,†said Cosgrove. “She didn’t come here, and we crave that experience.â€
On a recent Friday evening, a dozen girls gathered around a long table at in St. Charles. They played “finish the lyric†and sipped glitter-infused Cherry 7UPs.
Merry Swiftmas Craft Night was only the third event hosted at the boutique owned by Katie Reuther. She opened the shop three years ago but just finished renovating the upstairs this fall. Jessica Taylor, one of Reuther’s vendors who makes and hand-painted signs, suggested the concept.
Her three daughters are “total Swifties,†Taylor said. “They have made 5 million bracelets at home.â€
The oldest, 14-year-old Storey, sells the accessories at school. It takes Storey about a minute to string the beads and secure them with a knot.
The young crew at the Whistle Stop — decked out in “1989†sweatshirts and black “22†fedoras — was plenty Swift but not quite as quick.
Eight-year-old Blake Hutson of St. Charles carefully selected beads from a paper plate. She already had a bracelet on her arm, a gift from her 12-year-old sister.
It was Blake’s second Swift event that week, following a trip to the movies to see the Eras Tour on the big screen.
“I think she’s a good role model for all ages of girls,†said Blake’s mom, Megan Hutson.
‘They’ve blown up’
When the Rock Roll-O-Rena in Arnold announced its on Facebook, an exuberant Billie Leyfield, who lives nearby, was one of dozens of followers who shared the message on her own page.
“I’ve been begging the rink to do this,†said Leyfield. At 32, she is just a couple years younger than the star and has been a fan since the beginning. Their lives feel somehow intertwined.
“It seems like we went through stuff at the same time,†Leyfield said.
Rock Roll-O-Rena manager Cory Neifert got the idea from a skating association meeting.
“They’ve blown up at other places,†he said. “So we thought we should do it.â€
It’s a simple setup: Make a soundtrack, bring in some photo backdrops, hold a lookalike contest. The Monday night session, with the usual $7 admission price, drew 250 skaters, about 150 more than a typical weekday, Neifert said.
The Pageant concert venue in the Delmar Loop expects a sellout crowd in January for its fourth . For $20, the audience can shake it off while a DJ spins through the chart-topper’s catalog. Similar events by other artists, like an ABBA-flavored Gimme Gimme Disco night, have been big. But not Swift big.
“This is beyond what my brain computes,†said Robert McClimus, the booker at the Pageant.
In Edwardsville, a recent Wednesday marked the fifth time in six months that the tribute act Taylor Made filled the ‘s 326 seats — though almost nobody sits in them during the concert. Everyone is front and center, pressed up to the stage, ready to lend backup vocals to signature hits like “You Belong With Me.â€
Mark Pilkerton works in production at the Wildey. He put the act together and plays keyboard and guitar.
He had originally hoped to book four shows a year, but Taylor Made — led by Courtney Diamond of Edwardsville — has been playing about twice a month since the band’s July debut, including a gig in September at Busch Stadium. Performances are scheduled for next year in Michigan, Arkansas and Ohio.
“I never thought it would go over this well,†said Pilkerton. “It blew up.â€