Beyoncé is lifting the economies of the towns she visits on tour.
By ReShonda Tate, Houston Defender
Most of the cities on Beyoncé’s 57-city Renaissance World Tour make no secret about how the highly anticipated concerts are stimulating local economies. It’s being called the “Beyoncé effect,” a noticeable boost in spending before and during her tour stops.
Beyoncé is definitely a brand, carefully constructed, each move orchestrated. It’s equated into a billion dollar business. From outfits to lodging to hair and makeup to restaurants and clubs, everyone is trying to get a piece of the Queen Bey pie.
“Beyoncé is a force, and it’s fascinating to see the level of excitement and tangible interest generated for the local shops and businesses as her tour kicks off,” Tara Lewis, Yelp’s trend expert, said in a report. “Whether it’s people looking for dining and nightlife options, getting glammed up, or booking transportation, the ‘Beyoncé Bump’ is real, and it’s helping more people connect with local businesses in their communities.”
Of course, what is a Beyoncé concert if you don’t have your glam on? According to the marketing tracking company Yelp, searches for nail technicians during the week of Beyonce’s Atlanta show nearly tripled compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, searches for wigs rose 81% and searches for dive bars were up 160%.
“My boutique has seen more traffic in the last two weeks than I’ve seen in two years,” said Paula Long, owner of Tresor Cache. “I posted some Beyoncé outfits on Instagram and people haven’t stopped coming. It’s a welcomed sight.”
After “Queen Bey” performed in Stockholm, Sweden on May 10, Swedish economists blamed her for artificially inflating consumer prices.
Other
Transportation got a boost as well, especially high-end services such as town cars and limousines, which were searched 69% and 23% more, respectively.
Beyoncé stayed two nights in Stockholm for what was the kickoff to her first solo tour in seven years. Close to 50,000 fans swarmed each of the shows, with some traveling internationally and even overseas to catch the performance.
“Beyoncé’s start of her world tour in Sweden seems to have colored May inflation, how much is uncertain,” Michael Grahn, chief economist for Danske Bank in Sweden, wrote on Twitter. He said it probably accounted for 0.2 percentage points of the 0.3 percentage points that hotels and restaurants added for the month.
Renaissance, released in 2022, is the singer’s seventh solo album, and debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart. It’s a house dance record that was the most critically acclaimed album of 2022 and named best album of the year by publications including the New York Times and Rolling Stone.
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
Beyoncé believes in lifting others, specifically Black-, women-, and LGBTQ+-owned establishments. In Philadelphia, LGBTQ+ shops enjoyed the biggest Beyoncé bump across all shopping categories, with a near tripling of searches, the Yelp report found.
Beyoncé could have the highest-earning tour in history, expecting to clear over $2 billion from her tour.
With more than 100,000 fans expected to converge on the Bayou City, businesses of all sizes will probably see the benefits of increased foot traffic.
“These include people who have Airbnbs, restaurants, hotels, people who are driving Ubers, people who are selling shirts, or setting up shops on the side to sell shirts, or other kinds of swag,” Benson said.
She estimates the concert will generate an additional $10 million in revenue across the area.
“Most of the impact is going to be for smaller mom-and-pop entrepreneurs, but definitely restaurants and hotels are going to see an uptick in their business for sure,” she said.
Beyoncé has the ‘It’ factor. Period, point blank. She is a superstar. Anytime you have people make outfits and costumes to show up slaying at your concert, “That She” is generally an entertainer unparalleled.
This post was originally published on Defender Network