Bloomberg Says the Matchbook Is Back — And Our Founder Helped Explain Why
Restaurant matchbooks are having a moment, and Bloomberg just put a number on it.
In a new feature, “How Gen Z Helped Spark a Smoking Hot Comeback for the Restaurant Matchbook,” Bloomberg dug into why matchbooks have become one of hospitality’s most coveted pieces of merch — and our founder, Joe Danon, was right in the middle of the story.
At restaurants like Wild Cherry in New York’s West Village, matchbooks aren’t just a courtesy at the end of the meal anymore. Co-owner Lee Hanson told Bloomberg that guests beg for them, and some even turn up for resale on eBay. That kind of demand isn’t a one-off — it’s a trend we’ve been watching closely from the production side.
The numbers back it up. Joe told Bloomberg that sales of elaborate “Retro Feature” matches — the same style behind those Wild Cherry books — have climbed 75% annually for each of the last three years. That’s not a niche fad; it’s a real shift in how restaurants think about branded ephemera.
Joe also broke down why the category spans such a wide price range. A simple, mass-produced matchbook can run just a nickel a piece, but a small run of intricately designed Retro Feature matches can cost close to $2 each. As the article notes, restaurants are increasingly willing to pay that premium because a great matchbook does something a business card never could: it gets pocketed, collected, and shown off.
That’s really the heart of the story Bloomberg tells — millennials and Gen Z collectors (phillumenists, if you want the technical term) are treating matchbooks the way they treat vinyl or cassettes: a physical, tangible souvenir in a digital-first world. Bloomberg’s list of standout designs, from Wild Cherry’s slot-machine cherries to Turkey & the Wolf’s “Hungry Eyes” matches, is a great look at how far restaurant branding has come.
We’re proud that Joe and The Match Group’s data helped anchor Bloomberg’s reporting on where this trend is headed. Read the full piece here: Bloomberg — How Gen Z Helped Spark a Smoking Hot Comeback for the Restaurant Matchbook.
Thinking about giving your own restaurant, bar, or brand a matchbook worth collecting? Get in touch — it’s exactly what we do.