The Minnesota-Founded Company that Celebrities are Obsessed With

Each year, Oprah comes out with her famous list of 'Oprah's Favorite Things' for the holiday shopping season. Most of the items on her list are pricey. There are some affordable options, but most are splurges.

One of the items that made her 2024 list, though, actually comes from a company whose roots start in Minnesota as a small, family-owned business.

This isn't the first time this company has been featured on her list, either. This is the 8th year in a row!

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Oprah's Favorite Things

I enjoy looking through Oprah's list every year. Most of the time I find a few things that I like but then I look at the price tag. I can't justify the price but I'll add it to my Christmas list in case anyone is feeling extra generous!

This year, one of those things that I'm debating adding to my wish list comes from this Minnesota company. And how they originally ended up on Oprah's list 8 years ago is kind of a funny story.

Minnesota Item on Oprah's Favorite Things

The Minnesota item on Oprah's 'Favorite Things' list for 2024 is the Solid Marshmellow V-Neck Lounge Set from Softies.

Oprah says, “'Ooh, I love Softies—maybe you know that from how often I pick them? This year’s lounge set, with a V-neck, remains the best for lounging around. It comes in a number of luxurious colors.'”

Softies began in Minnesota back in 2005. Everything they sell looks so, so soft but they're not cheap. The lounge set Oprah loves this year is $139.

How Oprah Discovered Softies

So how in the world did this small, family-owned Minnesota company catch the eye of Oprah Winfrey?

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I wrote a story about this five years ago when they had appeared on her list three times in a row already.

Softies started in a family basement in Edina in 2006. Tim Murphy, who is the current CEO of Softies, told KARE 11 in 2019 that his dad, "'Dennis Murphy, realized there was a need for moisture-wicking PJs to keep people soft, cool and dry." Peggy, Dennis' wife, "said she was experiencing heavy night sweats while going through treatment for leukemia.'"

So Softies was born! But it took until 2017 for Oprah to notice them.

Tim was at a tradeshow in 2017. He told KARE 11, "'I was there for four days... terrible location, it made no sense. I was basically in a stairwell.'"

In the last hour on the last day of the tradeshow, some people he didn't know came up and were asking him very specific questions. It turns out, those people worked for Oprah and later that year they ended up on Oprah's 'Favorite Things' for the first time. And the rest is history!