Local businesses benefiting from swiftie friendship bracelets

Swifties wear friendship bracelets at Mhai O Mhai bead shop in Barrie, Ont on November 7, 2024 (CTV News/ Alessandra Carneiro).

As thousands of fans prepare for Taylor Swift's arrival in Toronto next week, local businesses are already noticing the positive impact of her Eras tour.

At Mhai O Mhai in Barrie, a craft store specializing in beads, owner Carolynn Yeates says demand has skyrocketed in the past two years.

"Customers were looking for bright beads and fun beads and stuff, and I was thinking people are really happy because the pandemic's over, and it was a customer who actually said, Carolyn, I think it's a Taylor Swift thing," said Yeates.

A Taylor Swift thing that has brought customers from all over Ontario into her store to purchase an assortment of beads.

"They're like, oh, and this is what we do, and this is what these beads mean, and they're telling me about the colours and the charms I should be getting, and it's fun, it's really fun," said Yeats.

Chloe Yetman is one of those customers; the Swiftie won tickets from a local radio station and is now shopping for some beads to make the perfect bracelet.

"I'm dying of excitement. I was bawling my eyes out when I found out I got tickets, and I still can't comprehend that I'm going to go," said Yetman.

Yetman says when it comes to the bracelets, the idea originated from lyrics from Swift's song You’re on Your Own, Kid.

"It's make the friendship bracelets take the moment and taste it so we went very literal and made the friendship bracelets and started trading them," said Yetman.

In Newmarket, another bead store is benefiting from the friendship bracelet demand, at The Bead Lady store, staff have noticed a large increase in sales with many customers ordering from overseas.

Manager Skye Stutt says the company has been stocking up on seed beads which is the most popular form of beads when creating the bracelet.

"We have had an increase in new customers and people with no jewellery making experience are coming into make these bracelets and we have seen people buying in large volumes," said Stutt.

According to Stutt while the company has been around for 20 years, the team has never seen this large volume of clientele until this year.

"It is unlike anything we have ever seen. we have been shipping all over the world and in Australia, ever since the movie came out," said Stutt.

Swifties still have plenty of time to buy those beads and make bracelets, with Taylor Swift's first show scheduled for November 14 in Toronto.