On the day following Donald Trump's inauguration, thousands of people in various cities across America participated in Women's Marches [1]. While protesters flooded the streets, filling them with their colorful and creative posters [2], one thing was left barren and empty: the racks at many art supply stores.
Consumer research group NPD recently released an interesting analysis [3] that proves an unexpected but important consequence [4] of the Women's March on Jan. 21. Leen Nsouli, an industry analyst, combed through data and discovered a drastic increase in art supply sales compared to the same time period in 2016 — a 33 percent increase in poster board sales and a 42 percent increase in foam board sales, to be exact.
In the week leading up to the marches, poster and foam board sales totaled a whopping $4.1 million. If you take into account just how cheap a poster board is (usually just a few dollars for a set of them), then you'll quickly realize just how impactful this data truly is.
But poster boards weren't the only popular supply, as the analysis demonstrated that sales of easel pads, flip charts, markers, glue, scissors, and fabrics were also way up in January. All in all, a total of $6 million was spent on various art supplies from Jan. 15-21.
This increase in demand left many convenience stores void of most poster-making goods, which many people eagerly documented on social media at the time as a tangible symbol of the protests.
Target is literally sold out of poster board. Tomorrow should be good ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿#WomensMarch [6] #stl [7] #stlouis [8] #Inauguration [9] pic.twitter.com/XQosrpnX29 [10]
— Kayla Wingbermuehle (@Kayla_Winger) January 21, 2017 [11]
Want to know what strength in numbers looks like?
Going to three stores for poster board because the first two were sold out. #WhyIMarch [12]— Madeline Hill (@mad_hill) January 21, 2017 [13]
Every Staples in NYC is sold out of poster board and chisel tip sharpies. I fucking love my city. pic.twitter.com/fNTC9vCSPZ [14]
— savannah (@bbsavvy) January 21, 2017 [15]
My Duane Reade sold out of poster boards but they eagerly offered me spare cardboard boxes to write on instead. Love you, NYC. #WomensMarch [16]
— Molly Fitzpatrick (@mollyfitz) January 21, 2017 [17]
when the stores are all sold out of poster board you gotta be resourceful #WhyIMarch [18] pic.twitter.com/4d5DqALTti [19]
— thiviya (@thiviyanav) January 21, 2017 [20]