When looking at a snapshot of the market for art supplies, you’ll find that in January the demand for art supplies when way up. Through the week of Jan. 15, poster and foam board sales went up by 33 and 42 percent, respectively. The sales led to a revenue of $4.1m for these presentation boards. Glue was up 27 percent. Permanent markers saw a 12 percent rise. Why would this be happening? More science fairs? Teachers only grading on physical presentations? A more realistic and impressive reason is behind the surge says Leen Nsouli of NPD (a firm analyzing the industry of office supplies).
If you hadn’t come to the conclusion already, marches around the country were the reason for the rise in demand for art supplies. The Women’s March on Jan. 21 was the main cause of the increase, with such an impressive turnout. Signs were needed, and within that need was the need for art supplies. In total, about $6m was spent on art supplies in the week of Jan. 15.
It will be interesting to see if sales continue at a high rate as protests are scheduled to continue around the country. Art supply firms around the country might continue to benefit as the protests march on.