Art Vandelay has a very niche sports star sighting.
Ms. Eder was a singer and recording artist who first found her niche on "Star Search," the television program that not only won her $100,000 but also brought her together with Mr. Wildhorn.
On the other, he's a niche rock star in a rapidly growing e-sports community that one day hopes to be represented at the Olympics with Neubauer as its spokesperson.
Thanks to platforms like Niche, Vine stars are able to connect with brands and create sponsored content.
Today, thanks to social media, the average consumer's network also involves tastemakers, niche digital stars, and celebrities.
That niche — including five-star hotels and four-star hotels that do major business in conventions and meetings — has been propped up by corporate deals negotiated last spring, when "the balance of power was still on the side of the sellers," Mr. Hanson said.
He scored hits with younger audiences in two Princess Diaries films (2001 and 2004) starring Anne Hathaway, and found a new niche in sentimental, star-studded, multi-narrative romcoms pegged to specific dates in the calendar: Valentine's Day (2010), New Year's Eve 20111) and, his final film, Mother's Day (2016).
A big player in the crowded three-star niche is Courtyard by Marriott, from Marriott International, which also owns the five-star Ritz-Carlton chain.
Those are Regent International, in the top-luxury, five-star niche, and Radisson Hotels and Resorts, on the upscale, full-service level usually associated with four-star hotels in the European market.
Travelers typically get their first tastes of the three-star niche in upper-end suburbs and near corporate parks, he said.
