'No influencers' sign in Nantucket basket shop stirs furious reaction

A quaint shop in Nantucket has sparked vigorous debate online after posting a picture of a 'No Influencers' sign in the store on Instagram. 

Four Winds Craft Guild, a basket store located in the ritzy Massachusetts island, shared the post last week. 

The picture of the sign has since gone viral, being reposted across social media websites where it has been discussed in short form videos and online communities.

The immediate reaction from many influencers, with follower counts in the hundreds of thousands to millions, was anger and outrage. 

Many labeled the sign as out of touch and even sexist, claiming that it discriminates against a profession dominated by young women. 

Lifestyle and fashion influencer Paige Lorenze, who has nearly two million followers across social media platforms, commented on the post: '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.'

Lorenze admitted in an interview with The Cut that some influencers behave badly and paint the rest in a negative light, but she questioned why the sign appeared to single out people in her field rather than all tourists who flood the island every summer and behave obnoxiously.

'I’d be interested to see a comparison of the bad behavior of men... versus the "bad" behavior of women,' she told The Cut. 

Other influencers also expressed their outrage in the comments of Four Winds Craft Guild's Instagram post. 

Stephanie Hanna, a home decor influencer with nearly 440,000 followers on Instagram, commented in part: 'One day I walked into your store and saw that sign and immediately felt uncomfortable. 

'I thought to myself why would they have that sign on such a beautiful island where I felt magic around every corner. Made me feel bad for being me for a minute but I realized that anyone that would make anyone feel unwelcome is not where I should be. Maybe a no photos or video sign would be a good replacement.'

Another influencer wrote: 'It’s funny that you do not want influencers to shop your store yet YOU yourself are trying to influence your store. So you must know influencing works! Discrimination of any form is disgraceful. Just my two cents!'

A third said: 'The irony is so real here. You don’t get to sh** on social media and then use it as your megaphone for saying, no no, don’t get mad at us. Just say no photography. 

'Do I get to put up a sign that says no (insert literally any group of people) to my business? Nope! That’s called discrimination.'

A fourth chimed in: 'The irony of you posting on social media to hate on social media influencers… This industry has given young women the ability to build communities out of nothing. 

'It has given SO many women opportunities they could have never even dreamed of. If the ring lights and filming bother you in your own store, that’s so understandable! But putting up a sign to put down an entire industry comprised mostly of women is not the way forward.' 

A fifth commented: 'This is discriminatory against a career and person. Very similar to if the sign said a specific race, or gender wasn’t invited in to your store.'  

The owner of Four Winds Craft Guild, John Sylvia, told The Cut he was surprised by the outrage his sign caused, saying it was meant as a tongue in cheek joke rather than to be taken literally. 

He admitted that it is sometimes frustrating to see influencers visit the store without engaging with its staff or caring about the history of its hand-crafted baskets, which are rooted in Nantucket's origins as a whaling community.

'A lot of people are tired of feeling like extras in someone else’s video,' Sylvia told the Cut. 'Like, f***ing talk to me. Talk to anyone in my store.'

'I don’t want to sound negative, but they come in, there’s like a group of them sometimes, and it can clog up the store. It’s not a huge space,' the owner added.

But he also said: 'It can be annoying, but, I mean, I’m not anti-influencers.' 

When Sylvia was told by The Cut that some influencers believe his sign is sexist, he laughed at the idea and dismissed it, saying he doesn't pay much attention to comments online and that, 'This influencer culture, I just don’t play to it.'

Although much of the early reaction to the sign was negative and cried discrimination, much of the more recent attention has tilted in favor of Sylvia and his business. 

Comments on the original Instagram post of the sign have been flooded with people mocking the influencers who commented their outrage. 

'I’m dying about all these “influencers” writing their little think pieces on being “discriminated” against (you’re not) and how it’s “misogynistic” (it’s not). I’m hoping this is the beginning of the tide turning on them,' one user wrote. 

'Influencers suddenly becoming a protected class of people was not on my bingo card for 2026,' a second said. 

'LOVE IT. We need less narcissistic influencers polluting timeless and classy spaces with their fast-consumerism and entitlement!' wrote a third. 

'All the "influencers" getting offended and commenting here is rich. Touch some grass, take a breath and go do something positive for your community,' said a fourth.

'The influencers being mad in the comments is the funniest sh** ever,' commented a fifth.