PITTSBURGH — The North Shore was flooded with thousands of fans making their way to see Taylor Swift for the final day of her back-to-back shows. The superstar brought in big crowds that are expected to bring a huge economic boost to the area.
“We are having so much fun with other Taylor Swift fans,” said fan Anna Jennings of Charlotte, NC. “We are having fun with other Swifties.”
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Sisters Emmalee and Kate Moles were among the thousands of people who packed the North Shore hours before the mega pop star took the stage at Acrisure Stadium Saturday night.
“We’ve seen so many people flooding local businesses and things like that and all of these little Taylor Swift-themed pop-up shops, the boutiques, Taylor Swift merch and things like that are just popping up around the city, and we’ve been puttering about. It’s amazing,” said Emmalee Moles of Charleston, WV.
Bars and restaurants, such as Tequila Cowboy Bar & Grill, saw that extra foot traffic. General Manager Christian Miranda said they saw about a 30% boost in revenue compared to a typical weekend. He added that the staff was prepared to handle the crowds.
“Everybody on these days just has to work a little bit harder, maybe multiple jobs and pull together as a team,” Miranda said. “Our staff is absolutely incredible.”
Mike’s Beer Bar on Federal Street, which is several blocks away from the stadium, is also seeing a steady flow of people.
“[It’s] definitely not as crazy as a Pirates or Steelers game,” said Jessica Moore, the bar & social media manager at Mike’s Beer Bar.
By Saturday afternoon, Moore said they had about a $5,000 increase in business on food and drinks.
“The crowd’s great,” she said. “A lot of them have been really patient and understanding and there are great outfits. They’re killing it.”
Out-of-towner Anna Jennings drove nearly seven hours from North Carolina to see Taylor Swift perform. She said between the gas, hotel room, and food, she’s probably spent about $500, and she’s not done.
“We definitely spent money on our clothes around here,” she said. “We bought food and alcohol. We’ll definitely spend on merchandise. We’ll definitely drink more and food.”
Visit Pittsburgh’s CEO told Channel 11 last summer there were four big concerts that brought in an economic impact of about $41 million from hotels, restaurants and shops. He believes the two-day concert in the city is going to break records.
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