Marie Kondo's ‘tidying' trend hits Tampa Bay area

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Small in stature but a giant in her influence, Marie Kondo is sparking a trend that’s a boon for second-hand stores. 

“People are always cleaning out this time of year, but I think now they’re embracing it more than ever,” said Chris Ward, the marketing director at Goodwill in Tampa.

Since the first season of Kondo’s Netflix series was released on New Year’s Day, the tide of “tidying up” has hit the Tampa Bay area, and thrift stores like Goodwill are riding the wave.

“She says to put the item in your hand and ask if it creates joy for you, and if it doesn’t, get rid of it,” said Goodwill employee Georgia Dittmer, who used the method over the weekend to clean out her home. 

“It worked,” Dittmer continued. “I got rid of a lot of things, and it was like a burden had lifted off of me.”

Goodwill along Gandy Blvd. said their donation numbers are up 5.5 percent over last year.  But it’s not just charity shops experiencing an increase. It’s also consignment stores.

“Lately, the amount of consignment coming in the store, it’s just nuts,” said Lauren Basil, the owner of Mosh Posh in Tampa.

Basil said there’s no way to really know if Marie’s method is the reason behind the increase in items being brought in, but the uptick is evident.

“We get over 1,000 new items in every week, so we always have something new that's coming in the door," she said.

And Ward says if it doesn’t give one person joy, someone else will want it.

“It may give someone else joy, and we'll put it out there and someone will get a lot of pleasure out of it," she said. “It takes on another life, it gets another chance.”