Marie Kondo’s New Online Store Sparks Everything but Joy
Decluttering guru Marie Kondo seems a little confused. The tidying master has adopted a new approach to her life mantra – if items in your home fail to spark joy, simply replace them with life-changing, happiness-inducing and overpriced tools from her online store, KonMari.
Marie Kondo: The serial entrepreneur.
Based on a post on her online store, Kondo began her tidying consultant business as a 19-year-old university student in Tokyo. Today, she has grown into an expert, helping people around the world to transform their cluttered homes into spaces of serenity and inspiration.
Kondo then went on to build her brand with a New York Times bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Her fresh take on decluttering caught the world’s attention and soon enough, Netflix came calling, with the release of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. The rest, as they say, is history.
The author explained that with the right items in one’s home, more really can be less. The KonMari method isn’t about getting rid of things. “It’s about heightening your sensitivity to what brings you joy. Once you’ve completed your tidying, there is room to welcome meaningful objects, people and experiences into your life,” she said.
With massive success on built on her Marie Kondo brand, it was perhaps only a matter of time before the entrepreneur took this plunge – KonMari was launched weeks after Rakuten, Japan’s biggest e-commerce site, announced a commercial partnership with Kondo.
KonMari sparking confusion instead of joy.
Kondo’s online store presents a selection of approximately 150 homeware and fashion items. The cheapest item on the site is a ceramic chopstick holder for US$8 and the most expensive one being a brass kitchen utensil holder, worth US$275.
The launch of e-commerce shop was met with heavy criticism on social media, where users called out Kondo for promoting consumerism, after having encouraged people to get rid of unnecessary things – with this tweet best summing up the entire fiasco.
Okay I will be the first to admit I’m a #konmari lifer but you guys she’s SELLING A STICK. #wtf #goop2 #mariekondo pic.twitter.com/l4dj4ocfG1
— Sidney has the feet of a snake 🐍 (@MajorTomboy) November 19, 2019
Other absurdly priced items include a bath towel priced at US$74, a US$220 large serving bowl and a US$96 brass ladle that “becomes more interesting with use and time.” Well, time will tell if any of these items even spark joy for your minimalist lifestyle rather than being a waste of space.
Source: AFP Relax News and The Guardian
Related: Soon, You’ll Be Able to Rent Furniture from Ikea
