Celebrities Who Shop at Walmart, Target, and Costco

Walmart, Target and Costco locations are found nearly everywhere around the country, offering a wide selection of goods at often quite attractive prices. While we might frequent these big-box retailers to fit our budgets, they also attract shoppers who, we imagine, don’t need to worry about the price tag. Guess these enduring celebrity sightings at these mega-stores seem to indicate that we’re not the only ones who like to score a bargain.

Olivia Lin contributed to this story.

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“Bey Bargain Hunts” was the headline of a segment of “The Real” talk show in 2022, when the hosts discussed the superstar singer walking the aisles of a Los Angeles Target the day before, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, sunglasses and high heels no less. As panelist Loni Love noted, “It seems Queen B loves a bargain, too,” and that this was far from the first time the star had been spotted in Target. This occasion was reportedly to shop for her daughter’s birthday. (And, to note, Love added, “She did not push her own cart.”}

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We’re not totally positive Justin Timberlake shops at Target, but he might work there. At least that’s the premise of a TikTok video that went viral last summer. The singer with a noted sense of humor was filmed seemingly checking someone out at a Target register. And, as Entertainment Weekly added in its coverage of the stunt, Timberlake indeed played a Target shopper named Peg on a classic “Saturday Night Live” skit.

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Jessica Alba’s talents don’t end with acting. In fact, she’s also well known as a co-founder of Honest, a beauty and lifestyle brand devoted to eco-friendly products. Target started carrying its goods a few years back, so her support of the retailer seems to be a given. But she’s not there to buy her own goods, as a 2021 sighting in L.A. showed the star with her daughters heading in to shop. To note, Alba’s a longtime fan, having done Christmas shopping there in 2012.

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Hollywood Life’s 2017 reporting on the sighting of a Hollywood couple was telling in its choice of words – “Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth Caught Shopping at Target.” Caught? Well, though Hemsworth is out of Cyrus’ life these days, apparently Target is not, as Cyrus was photographed in the store in May of 2021, her mask pulled down to show it was indeed her.

When Britney Spears isn’t performing in Las Vegas – or savoring her post-conservatorship life – the pop princess has been known to frequent Target. In fact, it was revealed in her conservatorship case that in 2018 alone, she visited that store some 80 times, with purchases including clothing, toys, décor, and more. Not to play favorites, she’s also been a Walmart shopper.

From concert stages around the world to your local Target? Well, a random search found that singer Billie Eilish not only seems to often shop at Target but has been known to take photos with her fans there, much to their delight. Her connection to Target seems to go far back – on an appearance with Jimmy Kimmel last autumn, as reported by Billboard, Eilish also shared that “getting kicked out of a Target” was on her childhood bucket list.

Angelina Jolie shopped at Target with her daughters back in 2020, keeping it low-key but high fashion in a lblack t-shirt, black sweatpants, and Valentino slides as one does.

Not all celebrity sightings occur in the big cities. Pop star Ariana Grande was spotted at a Target back in 2019. Not in L.A. but Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As reported by Lancaster Online, she posed for at least one photo and was thought to perhaps be in the area due to a link to a nearby entertainment production company. As one lucky local posted, “It’s not everyday you run into @arianagrande at target.”

Supermodel Heidi Klum has been known to find time to shop Target between her modeling and TV hosting duties. There are countless online snaps of the supermodel in Target, sometimes with a cart filled with toys and sometimes at the entrance with her Starbucks in hand. Haven’t we all been there?

Comedic actor Steve Carell can find the humor in many a situation, including how shopping at Target once cemented his realization that he’s “not cool.” As he told Oprah magazine, he was once in a Target — “a store I cannot leave without making at least a nominal purchase” — when he found his dream clothing piece, a pair of geek-tastic cargo pants, that he went on to purchase in three colors while fully embracing the fact that, “Steve McQueen did not wear cargo pants. Nor did Cary Grant.” 

It’s probably no surprise that the “mom-ager” of the entrepreneurial Kardashian clan knows when to splurge – and when to save. In a 2015 New York Times Magazine profile, Kris Jenner said, “Costco is a passion… Costco is like a massage.” And photos attest to her devotion, with her seen wheeling massive amounts of goods out of the store. In 2019, Us magazine reported that her obsession continues: “I’m a bulk girl for sure and my favorite store is Costco.”

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, in search of a wedding band, turned to … no, not Rodeo Drive but Costco. He reportedly hit the store to buy a workmanlike ring, presumably at a reasonable price. And it was a smart move, as he has shared he went on to lose that ring. His love of the store has been noted, as he added, “I would have gotten married at Costco if that was an option.” The store has been mentioned in his monologues more than once, as the self-proclaimed “executive member” opened a bit with, “I went to Costco on Sunday … I like to see what’s new.”

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When tennis legend Serena Williams speaks, the media listens. Back in 2018, countless outlets picked up an interview in which Williams shared some of her shopping secrets, such as hitting Target for beauty products, swimsuits and more. And one tip she shared with the rest of us? Shop late at night, since, “No one is ever in the store then, so you can have as much fun as you want.” 

Big-box stores are places where you might see one of the girls next door — or one of “The Girls Next Door.” Holly Madison, a star of the reality show devoted to late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and his girlfriends, has been known to shop the aisles of a Walmart in Las Vegas, with The Las Vegas Sun sharing a photo. Madison was said to be buying toys for a charity drive.

The tabloids love a “down-on-their-luck” celebrity story. It was in 2017 when the DailyMail.com gleefully reported that, “Not Beverly Hills, 90210: Purple-haired Tori Spelling heads to discount store Target with husband and kids amid crippling financial woes.” Was the actress’ perceived financial difficulties real (the I.R.S. had demanded $1 million) or was this just another California family out for a quick errand? 

Visiting local sites while filming on location caused a number of Nicolas Cage sightings in Southern Indiana/Louisville, Kentucky area back in 2016. The veteran star was working on the horror film “Mom and Dad,” and was spotted at a nearby Target as well as other local spots. As the News and Tribune in Jeffersonville, Indiana, reported, “Based on the number of Nicolas Cage photos in Southern Indiana and Louisville that have popped up on social media this week, it seems like the actor has been making the most of his days off-set.”

The businesswoman, lifestyle maven and television personality Martha Stewart has, over the years, been associated with Costco. She licensed her name for the Kirkland Signature by Martha Stewart line of food products, signed countless copies of her many books at its various locations — and has some of her home goods sold there. She’s also reportedly been spotted as a customer at the place she has called, “one of the top retailers in the United States.”

Snoop Dogg seems to be everywhere these days, from an endless array of celebrity endorsements to hosting TV shows to, oh, yeah, performing. He’s also been known to seek a few bargains at Walmart with the rapper reportedly spotted at a California store a few years ago.

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Bad press can dog a celebrity for years. While pop star Justin Bieber’s songs seem to always top the charts, immature antics in his hometown Walmart in Canada hit some sour notes back in 2014. Bieber and his entourage reportedly took a city bus to the store (with a police entourage) and were accused by a fellow customer of throwing items around and opening food, according to the Daily Mail. Presumably, he’s way past that behavior now as a settled-down married man.

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While on tour in Canada in 2013, singer Rihanna stopped at the Kamloops Walmart in British Columbia. She tried to go incognito in sunglasses, large headphones and a baseball cap, but a customer was able to snap a photo of the noted star before she left. More recently, RiRi — whose second child was born in August — was seen earlier this year shopping for baby clothes in a Los Angeles Target.

Over the course of a career, celebrities will be spotted and forever linked with sightings, especially by the fans who meet them. Though she’s almost 30, it was back when Dakota Fanning was a teen star of the “Twilight” saga that she caused quite a stir at a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Walmart. In the region filming the “Breaking Dawn” installment, Fanning left a good impression, reportedly having taken time to chat and take photos with some fans during her shopping excursion.

Chris Brown may have gotten into a Twitter dispute with Walmart over the selling of his CDs back in the day, but that didn’t mean he was boycotting shopping there. Once after a local concert, the singer was spotted by a few shoppers at a Connecticut Walmart and posed for a photo before continuing his shopping trip.