We went to a Goodwill store and saw how it's 'overrun' with stuff millennials and Gen Xers refuse to take from their parents
- Many millennials are waiting until later to buy their first homes, which means they often don't have the space for the heirlooms their parents are passing down to them.
- That trend, combined with the minimalist movement, has led to an uptick in donations to thrift stores.
- We visited a Goodwill thrift store in New York City to see the trend for ourselves.
Millennials are living with less.
Young people are scaling back on what they need, taking inspiration from experts such as Marie Kondo, the author of two best-selling books on minimalism, to live a clutter-free life.
This has led to a generation of consumers who donate, and thrift stores like Goodwill are the biggest beneficiaries.
"We are definitely getting overrun with furniture and about 20% more donations of everything than in previous years," Michael Frohm, the chief operating officer of a Goodwill thrift store in Greater Washington, told The New York Times in August 2017.
Many young people are also waiting longer to buy their first home, meaning they may not have the space for the furniture, keepsakes, and clothing their parents are passing down to them.
"We value a mobile lifestyle," Erin Hendrickson, a minimalist expert who runs the blog Minimalism RD, told Business Insider. "We aren't living in 25,000-square-foot homes, so don't have space."
In Middle Tennessee, Goodwill donation director Danny Rhodes has seen an uptick in donations in urban areas where a high concentration of millennials live. He says there's been an increase in donations of dining-room furniture in particular, as it's a room that millennials often don't have in their homes.
"I'm always surprised to see such nice vintage and furniture items being donated rather than inherited," he said.
We visited a Goodwill store in Manhattan to see what it's like to shop there now: