thousands line up for ariana grande merch in montreal as concert tour pop-ups go mainstream

outside the ariana grande pop-up shop in montreal on tuesday, super-fan melyna mady had just spent $1,000 on merch. grande's fans don't need a concert ticket to buy merch from her eternal sunshine tour — the exclusive merch pop-up is open for the week of the pop star's tour stop in montreal. to get into the store on ste-catherine st., fans need to book a slot in advance online, getting only 15 minutes to shop. "i think it's cool. i think it gives another side to the actual merch from the show. it gives us a chance to get some exclusives as well," said mady, who was at the pop-up with her brother, noah. stand-alone merch pop-ups — which were unheard of several years ago — are now part of many major pop music tours.

these types of limited-edition shops have existed in the sports industry for over 15 years, according to siddhanth mookerjee, a marketing professor at mcgill university. as consumers shift their focus to spending money on experiences, he says artists and brands are creating new ways to tie events such as concerts to physical goods. "there are a lot of these events that have these kinds of pre-events, like pop-ups and so on. prior to the main event, they have these pre-events to build up anticipation and excitement," mookerjee said in an interview. while grande is playing three shows in montreal this week, the pop-up opened sunday and continues until friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.pop-ups and off-site merch sales for concert tours emerged during kanye west's the life of pablo tour in 2016, according to events producer noreen hamid, who produced an oasis pop-up in toronto in 2025. she says justin bieber, the weeknd and drake followed suit shortly after."concert merch is no longer just something you buy after the show. it's become part of the campaign, the fashion conversation and the overall fan experience. i've seen first-hand how much that’s changed audience behaviour," she said by email."when i produced for some of the oasis pop-ups in north america last summer, nobody could’ve predicted a '90s legacy band would become one of the biggest fashion trends of the summer, attracting lifelong fans, and some who weren't even alive when oasis was originally releasing music. we had to double our staff after the first day because the line wrapped around queen st. w. for several blocks from morning until night."

part of the reason these pop-ups have become so successful for artists and popular for fans, mookerjee explained, is because they build a "brand community" around a shared live experience, like a concert or a sporting event. "what you're really doing is you're trying to build a community of fans that care about the brand and the experience," he said. "with ariana grande, it's very much a branded experience."

mookerjee added that the merch pop-ups tap into people's innate need to be part of a group, such as a fan community, while making fans feel like they get to be part of something with a limited run. "what these brands do really well is that they make these experiences really exclusive, so you have that need for uniqueness fulfilled. ... this ariana grande pop-up merch event, it was exclusive; it wasn't open to everyone. you had appointments; they were all sold out," he said. "it's to build that sense of status and exclusivity. so your need for uniqueness is kind of satisfied, but also your need for belonging is satisfied." while there was some competition for the more exclusive merch at the ariana grande pop-up on tuesday — like a teddy bear that doubles as a lip gloss pouch — fans were making friends in line outside the store, taking photos of one another and sharing concert memories.

"i think the experience is so cool because it's kind of like heaven for a lot of ariana grande fans, because it's basically a whole store full of ariana and her music is playing," said ira bansal, who flew from vancouver for grande's only canadian stop on the eternal sunshine tour. "we get to meet so many other arianators," her friend roselyne lu added, in reference to the star's global fan base. "i came here alone, and i started just randomly talking to so many people in line, and everyone was so nice," said superfan evan warhaft. "we're all here for the same purpose, and just the sense of community was really warming."