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.
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.