Nantucket store’s ‘No Influencers’ sign sparks debate over where online creators are welcome
Local News
After Four Winds Craft Guild shared the sign on Instagram, Dairy Boy founder Paige Paul said it unfairly dismisses an industry that supports women entrepreneurs.
An Instagram post by the local Four Winds Craft Guild on Nantucket showcases a permanent wood-crafted sign that reads in gold letters: “No Influencers.”
Soon after it went up, a comment by influencer Paige Paul — founder of lifestyle brand Dairy Boy and the Kids Outdoors Foundation with her husband, tennis star Tommy Paul — sparked an immediate online debate: Where should online influencers be allowed?
“If you call yourself a feminist but proudly put up a ‘No Influencers’ sign, it’s worth asking who you are attempting to delegitimize, and why…” read the comment by Paige Paul, which has since been taken down.
It continued, “Mocking women when they become powerful in a new industry isn’t new. It’s just a strange message coming from a store that celebrates a craft with such a rich history of women shaping the island and its economy.”
Paul went on to say that women overwhelmingly drive the creator economy and that it is a way for women to successfully launch a business at a scale that once would have required corporate backing — saying that’s a win.
“This sign isn’t,” it said.
In a repost of the sign, others agreed with Paul. Some commenters said the sign discriminates against a particular group of people and wondered why a simple “no photography” sign wouldn’t have sufficed.
Others felt like the sign made them feel uncomfortable inside the store.
Still, many say influencers are part of what is killing the island’s charm as it becomes more and more gentrified. Others said they understood the joke, saying they can’t walk into any store on the island without ending up on someone’s Instagram reel.
Well, the store owners agree.
In a post, the store said the Four Winds Craft Guild and its affiliate, Sylvia Antiques, are part of a third-generation antique business about to celebrate its 100th year. The Craft Guild, owned by John Sylvia, promotes art and antiques, representing over 40 artisans.
They explain that the “No Influencers” sign has nothing to do with Paul. In fact, Sylvia had no idea who she was.
“This is a cultural discussion — one to talk about openly and honestly in your own community,” the post reads. “Do you like people filming around you? Talking on your streets into tiny microphones? Recording themselves in your shop?”
The places where the owner encounters people recording are endless, the post read.
As one person wrote in support of the Four Winds Craft Guild’s stance, “Stay classy.”
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