Swifties spending up to £300 on merchandise at Wembley pop-up shop

Taylor Swift fans have been spending up to £300 on tour merchandise at a pop-up shop outside Wembley Stadium before the singer performs in London.

The shop, which is open to anyone, sells T-shirts, hoodies, posters, bracelets, water bottles and tote bags featuring the dates and branding of Swift’s 2023-2024 Eras tour.

The items range from £15 for a poster to £70 for a beige hoodie.

The most popular item, according to staff, is the grey Eras Tour quarter-zip fleece (£65) featuring a colourful pop art-style collage of Swift.

Since 10am on Thursday, more than 2,000 people had entered the shop, set up in a car park to the east of the stadium, according to security officer Khan Balayt.

Nikki Nesh, who works in marketing, was one of them.

Ms Nesh was celebrating her 27th birthday and is set to attend Friday’s show.

Ms Nesh, from Streatham, south London, said she spent £120 on merchandise and £249 on tickets to see Swift play on Friday and another show in August.

She said: “It wasn’t bad. We budgeted way more than that.

“(Swift) is just amazing. I’ve grown up with Taylor Swift. I’ve been a fan since I was 12.

“I love everything about her. Her lyrics, her storytelling.

“She’s gets a lot of hate, but she’s such a good role model. She makes me feel like I could do anything, like I could achieve whatever I wanted to.”

Ms Nesh’s friend, Jenny Ansell, also 27, added: “You feel the lyrics and you think, I’ve been through that.”

Ms Ansell, a carer from Romford, said she spent £300 on merchandise at the pop-up shop.

She said: “(Swift) made me feel so confident. I’ve only been a fan for a year.”

Ms Nesh interrupted: “I turned her and made her a Swiftie.”

Ms Nesh showed off her wrist full of home-made friendship bracelets featuring facts and key phrases about Swift that she swaps with fellow fans.

One bracelet displayed the number 13, which Ms Nesh said was Swift’s “lucky number”.

Vivian Huang, a 24-year-old Chinese student studying law at Queen Mary University, said she spent £140 on merchandise in addition to a £500 ticket to see Swift play at Wembley on Friday night.

Ms Huang said her favourite song was Enchanted, adding: “When I met my boyfriend, I listened to that song a lot.”

Violet Tang, Ms Huang’s friend, is seeing Swift play on Sunday.

The accounting student at King’s College London said: “Taylor Swift is popular in China.”

She said it did not matter that few people could understand the meaning of Swift’s songs, because the “melodies are memorable”.

“We listened to her songs in school. We learned English grammar from her,” she added.

Danny Nash, 40, said he was not attending any of Swift’s shows but was buying merchandise for his 15-year-old daughter.

Mr Nash, a technical services manager who lives beside Wembley Stadium, said: “I couldn’t afford the tickets so I got the merch instead.”

He said that when Swift played on Friday evening “my daughter will just ride around (outside the stadium) on a Lime bike to listen to the music”.

The pop-up store opened on Thursday and will close on June 23.