The Taylor Swift Factory Never Closes

Just when I was starting to think that the Eras Tour would simply never end, Taylor Swift announced she was on the last leg. It has been what feels like 100 years and, in her own words, “hard to comprehend.”

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But fear not because the whole shebang is going to be available to purchase in the form of a 256-page coffee table book, filled with Swift’s “personal reflections” and “never-before-seen photos,” retailing for $39.99. And if that wasn’t enough, you know that album she released in April, the one with 31 songs on it? Well, she’s got an extended “Anthology” version coming out, too, with four new acoustic bonus tracks, making a whopping 35 tracks total. The vinyl copy will include four specially designed LPs, because of course it will, and will retail for $59.99. Both of these products will be exclusive to Target and released on Black Friday,

But why, though? My guess—my hope—is that she’s going to ride off into the wintry sunset after this final leg of the tour and let us sit on our books and overly long records for a while before resurfacing again in the spring for Reputation (Taylor’s Version), which the Swifties have been foaming at the mouth in anticipation of for months now. Maybe she’ll take some time off to watch her boyfriend play football. We elder, more chill fans have reached critical mass on Taylor; the economy has been completely oversaturated by her, and we want to be able to enjoy her music instead of dreading it.

But I also know that this is Taylor Swift’s economy and I’m just living in it. Her real fans—the teenyboppers—are going to kill their parents if they don’t get that coffee table book for Christmas, and they (probably…hopefully?) don’t even drink coffee. As long as there are teenage girls, there will unnecessary, expensive Taylor Swift merch. Sigh.