In an ironic twist, the Trump-hating protesters of America (71% of which believe an economy-wide downturn is imminent) have boosted American growth since the inauguration - sales of poster boards, markers and other sign-making supplies jumped more than 30%.
Bloomberg reports that, according to data from the NPD Group which tracks sales of consumer goods, in the week of the inauguration alone, Americans spent an estimated $6 million on supplies - not insignificant considering that many of the individual items cost $1 or less.
Sales of foam boards rose 42 percent. Poster board sales grew 33 percent, and in the week before the inauguration, stores sold roughly one-third of the 6.8 million poster boards sold in January. Paint markers and fabric paint for t-shirts also sold more briskly than normal, said Leen Nsouli, director of industry analysis for office suppliers at NPD.
The sale jump was an unexpected boon to office supply retailers, which had seen sales drop for 22 weeks with the exception of the week before Christmas, and the two weeks before the march.
"You were seeing people use more traditional methods to express their thoughts, which was something that we hadn’t seen as much,” said Nsouli. In the past, “everything was always on the computer, on the phone. This was a really cool way to see it on paper, in pencil.”
With more demonstrations planned for the future, retailers might want to stock up, Nsouli said—and protesters should plan ahead.
First world problems - poster board shortages...
Better than running out of toilet paper, soap, and bread?
Whatever it takes to "Make America Great Again" - we wonder if all those sign-making supplies were "made in America" too?
