Open for business: Taylor Swift's outdoor merch stand signals Eras Tour's arrival in Minneapolis

Thousands of Swifties lined up for hours for the first crack at her tour items, including a coveted crewneck sweater.

By Chris Riemenschneider Star Tribune

June 22, 2023 — 4:06pm

As the sounds of "Look What You Made Me Do" wafted across the transit plaza outside U.S. Bank Stadium on Thursday morning, Yoana Petrinska had no qualms revealing what her love for Taylor Swift made her do: Get in line at 7 a.m. to drop $262 on merchandise from the pop megastar's Eras Tour.

"I got what I wanted, so I definitely think it was worth it," the new University of Minnesota grad said, as she pointed to the $65 blue crewneck sweater among the items in her bag.

Petrinska was among thousands of fans who lined up for hours on Thursday — some even started lining up late Wednesday night — for the opening of Swift's outdoor merchandise stand at 10 a.m., a full day ahead of the first of her two sold-out concerts at the Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis.

The opening of the outdoor merch stand was sort of the Swiftie equivalent of Barnum & Bailey tents going up a century ago — the first tangible sign that the circus is in town.

For the Swifties who were first in line for the T-shirts, posters and other swag, it was extra important for them to at least get the merch items they wanted; that's because they still had not lucked into tickets to this weekend's concerts despite attempts the day they went on sale in November.

"I can't afford $500 or $600 for a [resale] ticket, but I can at least afford the sweater," said North Dakota State University student Annamarie Faszholz, who drove five hours with her bestie Swiftie Emilee Taylor to start the merch-stand line at 11 p.m. Wednesday.

"We're checking Ticketmaster constantly, hoping [new] tickets will drop," added Taylor, "but either way, I'm glad we're here for the experience."

Other indicators of Swift's arrival Thursday included a fleet of tour production trucks lining the streets around the stadium, where setup began earlier in the week on the massive production for the U.S. trek of her 20-city, 50-show Eras Tour. Minneapolis falls about halfway through the tour, which began in Glendale, Ariz., in mid-March.

Among the stage gear already being built inside the Vikings' stadium is a long catwalk that runs almost the whole length of the stadium floor. Somewhere amid all the trucks is a sprawling wardrobe to accommodate Swift's dozen or so costume changes, all based around the different "eras" represented by her albums.

Twin Cities fans will have to wait until about 7:55 p.m. Friday to finally see Swift herself, but there are other activities surrounding the tour in the interim.

One of her opening acts, Gracie Abrams (daughter of famed sci-fi movie director J.J. Abrams) is performing at the Electric Fetus record store at 3:30 p.m. on Friday for 300 fans who already bought her album there. Abrams is then due back at U.S. Bank Stadium in time for the concert's 6:30 p.m. start time.

Inbound BrewCo in Minneapolis' North Loop is hosting an all-Swifties trivia throwdown starting at 7 p.m. Thursday. And pre-concert parties are happening all over town Friday and Saturday, including a tailgating party at Fulton Brewing that begins at 3 p.m.

Of course, Swift's own money-generating merchandise stand to buy T-shirts and posters outside the stadium also will be open Friday and Saturday, starting at noon and continuing after the concerts.

Items at the stand range in price from $75 hoodies and the $65 sweaters on down to $25 water bottles and $15 glowing batons (detailed list below). In the middle are the standard tour T-shirts at $45 a pop.

Another of the Swifties who came in the wee hours to get first shot at the crewneck sweaters — word is those have been selling out fast in other cities — Meredith Tschida, 22, of North Branch pointed to U.S. Bank Stadium's resident tenant to try to explain to non-Swifties what all the hoopla is about.

"People who are into football pay a thousand bucks for seats and buy all kinds of merch for it," Tschida said. "For Swifties, this is the Super Bowl. It's worth the money to us."

Here's a rundown of Swift's merchandise for sale at the stadium: