A lavender haze: Businesses anticipate Taylor Swift windfall that could 'blow Kenny Chesney out of the water'

Tia Muscarella is already leaning into the Taylor Swift phenomenon, and The Eras Tour is still a week away from its Pittsburgh stop.

The North Shore Tavern, where Muscarella is the bar manager, has been featuring the specialty cocktail Lavender Haze, a concoction of butterfly pea blossom gin laced with lavender honey. Muscarella developed the drink, inspired by Swift’s song of the same name, in anticipation of the tour stop June 16 and 17 at Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore.

“It’s already been selling well,” Muscarella said. “I feel like this (concert) is going to blow Kenny Chesney out of the water.”

Businesses are bracing for the massive crowds Swift has been drawing throughout her tour, her first since the start of the covid-19 pandemic (the last one was the Reputation Tour in 2018).

Not only have both performances sold out at Acrisure — which officially holds 68,400 people — in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia, shows have drawn hundreds of non-ticket holders who gather around the venue to be part of the experience.

VisitPittsburgh expects revenue from Swift’s concerts to surpass that of Elton John’s concert last year. That raked in more than $12 million in visitor and resident spending in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

“Keep in mind that was a one-time concert, where Taylor Swift will be performing here twice,” said Susan Klein, spokesperson for VisitPittsburgh. “Concerts are great business for our region, and we’re thrilled to have so many wonderful, mega-drawing artists lined up to perform here in the coming months.”

Anticipating the crowds, especially parents and non-ticket holders, the tourism group is hoping to deploy “Swiftburgh activation plans” on June 16. It is seeking a permit to set up a booth with a DJ, prizes, games and art for photo ops. It also will provide recommendations on where to eat for those not familiar with the area.

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The draw of the shows has been surprising, said Ben Fileccia, senior vice president of strategy and engagement of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association.

“If you would have asked me a month ago, I would have said that the hospitality industry is always excited to have a national star come to town, and I would have left it at that,” he said.

But Fileccia said “we were blown away by the response” to Swift’s shows in Philadelphia in May at Lincoln Financial Field.

“The hotels were at capacity. Restaurants and bars were doing great and doing Taylor Swift-themed cocktails and menu items. The energy in the city was just electric,” he said. “Public transportation systems were full of Swifties. Ubers were hard to come by.”

Pittsburgh Regional Transit has put a call out among employees to volunteer to work the T those days, and the agency plans to add extra cars and service.

“We’ve been watching the response to her shows over the last several weeks. It seems like her fans tend to use public transit more frequently,” said spokesman Adam Brandolph. “We certainly are preparing. With events on the North Shore, a lot of people’s plans are to use a park-and-ride or park Downtown and take the T over.

“We also want to encourage people to give themselves plenty of time to get to the North Shore, especially folks who may not be super familiar with the system, who may only take it a few times a year. It’s going to be very busy.”

The Gateway Clipper Fleet, which ferries folks across the rivers for events, is gearing up.

“We’ve cleared our decks as much as we can for that Friday and Saturday,” said Terry Wirginis, president and owner.

“We’re going to start the shuttles at 1:30 p.m.,” he said, noting that’s much earlier than a typical Steelers game, when shuttles usually start about two hours before kickoff.

In and around Pittsburgh, an online search for Hilton and Hampton Inn hotels from Wexford to Southpointe indicates most rooms are sold out for that Friday and Saturday. The same goes for Marriott and its brands Fairfield Inn, Springhill Suites and Courtyard. The few rooms that remain are going for more than $500 a night.

The upcoming shows are expected to draw attendees from all over the country, said Pittsburgh Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten.

“We expect there will be well over $1 million generated in state and local taxes that are directly related to Acrisure Stadium activities that weekend, which does not include taxes that will be generated from local restaurants, hotels and other businesses,” he said.

Airbnb said its local hosts have been seeing increased bookings for the weekend of the concert. It would not disclose occupancy numbers, but the San Francisco company said the top five places out-of-town guests were coming from were Buffalo, N.Y.; Princeton Meadows, N.J.; Northville, Mich.; Goleta, Calif.; and Baltimore.

“When you have people traveling, they’re injecting funds into the economy,” said John Gasper, associate teaching professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.

There’s the direct effect — people spending on accommodations, food and gas. Then there’s the indirect effect, where businesses might, for example, add extra shifts and order more supplies to help with demand. A third effect is the carryover, where those workers who earned extra money from the event will spend it.

Some might think, “I just picked up an extra shift, let’s go out to dinner and treat ourselves,” Gasper said.

At The Yard, a gastropub in Market Square, Downtown, reservations are filled on Friday and Saturday. And the staff is embracing the occasion.

Drinks will have edible glitter and have straws featuring Swift’s likeness. A grilled cheese will be made in the musician’s honor.

“We do this kind of thing for the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but it’s the first time we’ve done it for a concert,” said manager Gage Shadley. “We are definitely bracing for a crazy weekend, for sure. We’ve gotten nonstop calls for reservations. If one cancels, we’re able to fit someone in, but we’re completely booked at the moment.”

The 150-seat restaurant is adding staffing as well, with an extra bartender and some additional hands on deck.

For Mike Sukitch, who owns North Shore Tavern and neighboring Mike’s Beer Bar, a concert on this scale is like another Pirates’ Opening Day — typically their busiest day of the year.

“Taylor Swift, in particular, has the kind of crowd that not only is big on the day of the concert but also the day before and day after because the hotels fill up,” he said. “So we end up with instead of two big days, four big days.”

Because suppliers don’t visit on weekends, Sukitch said he must be strategic about staffing and inventory.

“In the past with previous concerts or big games, we’ve tried to minimize the menus so we have ingredients that can be used across multiple dishes — pulled pork that can go in nachos can also go into a sandwich,” he said. “That helps ease the work to prepare for such a high volume.

“There have been times in the past where I’ve had to run out to Giant Eagle on a Sunday morning to stock up on something we ran out of.”

His advice for navigating the city that weekend? Don’t try to rush it.

“If you want to come down, make a day of it,” he said. “And if you want to eat someplace, do it earlier rather than later after the show. Midafternoon, have your meal and then go out and enjoy things rather than trying to do it right before the concert when everyone else is.”

He added, “You can always come back to grab a drink after the show.”