Inside The Love Affair Between Oprah And Costco

Oprah doesn't go to supermarkets herself much. In 2017, when she and her pal, Ellen (who also happens to be famous enough to go by one name) went grocery shopping together, neither of the two had been in ages. Watch them prance through supermarket aisles on Youtube if you want proof. Ellen, after gleefully taking pictures of Oprah holding melons, tried to convince the cashier that Lady O could pay in "bars of gold."

Then there was that time, a shocking 20 years after the discount chain began popping up in the United States, that Oprah planned and took a trip to Costco (via Insider). It was November 2003, as per Progressive Grocer. Everybody she worked with was talking about the store. "There are people that are obsessed about [Costco]," Oprah told her audience in awe (via Youtube). "It's like 'the place to go,' not the theater, not the art exhibits, 'let's go to Costco' ... I had to check it out for myself." If you were part of her audience that night, you saw the twinkle in her eye. Oprah had fallen in love. 

What did Oprah buy the first time she visited Costco? Let's just say she didn't hold back. As Progressive Grocer tells it, Lady O's $548.00 bill included a designer jogging suit, a jumbo lobster tail, chicken pot pie, and 24 roses. "This is what's amazing," she exclaimed (via Youtube) as she explored the store, "you can come here and do watches and jewelry and diamonds even, and get toilet paper in the same place." (Correction: only you can do diamonds and toilet paper at the same time, Oprah). "I've heard more about this place than the second coming of the Beatles," she raved to her studio audience.

We know what you're going to ask. Yes, Oprah got herself (and every member of her audience the day she publicly declared her love for the discount chain) a Costco membership. Lucky The Oprah Winfrey Show attendees went home with a chicken pot pie and apple pie from the discount chain to boot. And while we don't know if Oprah ever set foot in a Costco again, Costco hasn't gotten over Oprah. In 2017, she was the cover story on its member magazine (via Twitter).

She may be in love, but Oprah is in good company. Mark Zuckerburg, Kylie Jenner, and Khloe Kardashian reportedly all enjoy Costco runs once and a while, too (via Yahoo! Finance). Really, who doesn't?