Netflix’s ‘Get Organized’ has viewers flocking to The Container Store

The next time you go shopping, you might thank Netflix for the long wait at The Container Store.

On Sept. 9, the streaming service debuted Get Organized with The Home Edit, an unscripted series following professional organizers Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin as they transformed the chaotic spaces of celebrities and fans into oases of decluttered bliss. (These two and their company The Home Edit are big players in Instagram’s rainbow sorting obsession, if you need a sense of their visual aesthetic or realm of influence.)

With their infectious friendship and can-do attitudes on full display, Shearer and Teplin make over 16 different spaces during the series’ supremely watchable first season — everywhere from Reese Witherspoon’s memorabilia closet and Khloe Kardashian’s garage to a neighborhood youth center and kitchen for a family of five. 

And yet, no matter how different the space, no matter how colossal the task, and no matter how intimidating the obstacle, Shearer and Teplin always have a powerful solution to go with each and every room they enter. They’re ideal solutions…often sold exclusively at The Container Store.

In the weeks since Get Organized‘s release, multiple viewers have reported seeing unusually long lines outside of Container Stores across the United States. Sure, with COVID-19 safety restrictions, most locations are limited in capacity, which could affect how long any line appears. 

But considering the number of Get Organized viewers self-reporting multi-hundred dollar organizational purchases after watching the show, a Netflix-inspired Container Store craze may already be in effect. (FWIW, the Los Angeles Container Store this reporter visited at opening time on Monday didn’t have a line to get in, but there was one woman waiting for the doors to open who told me that yes, she had seen the show — before hurrying inside.)

As reported by Benzinga staff writer Chris Katje, The Container Store has seen a considerable increase in stock price since Get Organized came to Netflix. From Sept. 9 to Sept. 21, the stock price for Container Store Group Inc. nearly doubled, jumping from $3.73 to $6.58.

It’s easy to see a correlation here: Increasing The Container Store and its products’ visibility on a major streaming service improved public perception of The Container Store and its products, which in turn could theoretically make them more profitable. That’s what drives the stock price up.

But we, of course, can’t say it actually did anything for the retailer’s bottom line, and correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation. (The Container Store didn’t respond to Mashable’s request for comment, and probably won’t announce anything official until the end of the financial quarter.)

Still, Dumb Money Live, a popular YouTube channel and podcast providing listeners with stock market tips, did specifically suggest their fans invest in The Container Store because of the chain’s prominence in Get Organized on Sept. 17.

Stream any episode of Get Organized and you’ll see dozens of plastic tubs, bamboo dividers, and shiny metal filing cabinets fill your frame. It’s a supremely satisfying spectacle that’s inspired some to compare the series to an infomercial (“I didn’t think Netflix had commercials” is one joke getting lobbed with some frequency), and others to make a beeline for The Container Store nearest them (watching celebrities touch and own stuff will do that to some people).

It’s a trend similar to “Marie Kondo-ing,” the Tidying Up fad that inspired hordes of viewers — and huge collections of their junk — to descend on thrift stores and donation centers in 2018. Of course, this trend feels a bit more like branding than “pursuing joy.”

Hop on The Container Store’s website and you’ll see the retailer’s ongoing partnership with The Home Edit, crystallized in an exclusive collection branded with the smiling faces of Shearer and Teplin, launched “more than a year ago” according to reporting by Good Housekeeping.

Go to The Home Edit’s website, click on any product under the “Shop” tab, and you’ll be taken to The Container Store’s website directly (h/t Benzinga) — where, hilariously, many of the popular products shown on the show have already sold out. Physically enter a Container Store and, from my experience, you’re not likely to fare much better. This was the state of things on The Home Edit display at The Container Store I visited today: 

Another stunning display of entertainment’s influence on our everyday actions, Get Organized with The Home Edit may not be a show you’ve thought about much. But it’s one hell of a commercial.

Get Organized with The Home Edit is now streaming on Netflix.