Magnolia Market (Fixer Upper) – Waco Texas

Anyone that watches HGTV is well acquainted with the red hot show entitled “Fixer Upper”… Well, a couple of our objectives on this trip included the exploration of Waco Texas, Fixer Upper’s home town, while also checking out some of the places directly related to the show.  

  

Yes…this church does fit into this story!  This is the First Baptist Church in Waco Texas.  The current church building dates back to 1907. 

So…how does this church tie into “Fixer Upper” and the Magnolia Market?  It’s all about supply and demand!  The church owns a big paved parking lot across the street and the next block over from Magnolia Market and their bakery at The Silos.  It’s $10.00 cash to park in the very busy church parking lot.  We were told that the church has already taken in enough money to refurbish all of their stained glass windows!   

This is Magnolia Market… It’s the brainchild and ‘offspring’ of Fixer Upper’s stars, Chip and Joanna Gaines.  We arrived late on a Monday afternoon and this relatively new tourist destination was very busy!

If you are unfamiliar with HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” or Chip and Joanna Gaines, you can go to http://www.hgtv.com/shows/fixer-upper and/or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixer_Upper_(TV_series). To summarize, the show is about their efforts to find homes for their clients...homes that are in serious need of help, and then making them into the client's dream homes.  Chip, Joanna and their children also add a lot of personality and warmth to the show.

The previous 5 photos show different parts of the Magnolia Market.  Products range from t-shirts, decorative vase, baskets, laser-cut metal signs to flower arrangements and a variety of ‘take with’ decorative items for the home.  

We ended up buying a couple of t-shirts and the metal sign shown above that was laser-cut by Jimmy Don…one of the several local artisans and craftsmen that have been featured on the show.  It's now hanging on the wall in our bedroom.

Of course, the shopping doesn’t stop here in Waco at the Magnolia Market at the Silos!  You can shop on-line to your heart's content.  Just go to https://magnoliamarket.com/.   

Chip and Joanna have to be complimented for the thought that has gone into the creation of this facility.  As you can see, there is a big covered picnic area where families can take a break and have something to drink and eat. 

Where do visitors find something to eat when visiting Magnolia Market?  Most of them were closed by late afternoon a Monday but one side and the back of this expansive property are lined with a plethora of food trucks/trailers serving a wide variety of food and refreshments.

These are the silos that Magnolia Market at the Silos was named for.  Basically, the Gaines’ took an old beat up and unused property and they refurbished and repurposed it, creating a booming business and tourist destination.  We understood that the silos are now being used for storage.

Note that play area. It stretches between the picnic pavilion and the silos.  Those boxes at the right of the photo offer corn-hole games, Frisbees, footballs, balls,etc. for the use of visitors and their children.  What a great idea!

Laurie and I actually visited Magnolia Market twice in 2 days.  On the second day, we decided to partake of one of the food vendor’s wares so we visited the Dog House.  

We got our food and sat in the picnic pavilion, had our lunch and watched people play on the ‘green’.  Laurie had a loaded premium hot dog while I had a nice bratwurst.  We appreciated those toasted buns as they added a little extra flavor to the already tasty dog & brat.

Chip and Joanna don’t miss much when it comes to opportunity.  This nursery at one corner of the property sells flowering plants, decorative plants, herbs, etc.

And of course, there had to be a bakery on the property!  We stood in line with other visitors just to get our treats from the Silo Baking Company…We filled out a card as to what we wanted & it was ready for us when we got to the head of the line!

Once you get inside the bakery, which isn’t a big place, the line winds around until you find yourself facing the beautiful cases! Look at all the goodies you can buy!  It was after 5 PM on a Monday when we visited the bakery.  I can’t imagine how busy the bakery and the Magnolia Market itself are on a weekend!

These were our treats.  All tried and true Joanna Gaines recipes! We have a “Shiplap” Cupcake ($3.50), a Blueberry Muffin Crumble ($3.00), a Gluten Free Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookie ($3.00) and a regular cup of coffee. ($2.50)  We enjoyed our snack under an umbrella covered patio style table alongside the bakery. 

One last overall photo of the Magnolia Market at the Silos…again late in the afternoon.  On our second visit, we discovered that there was free parking at the rear of the facility.  It wasn’t paved but it did save $10.00!

Chip and Joanna Gaines, with their rehabbing of homes in the Waco area and their overall entrepreneurial efforts, appear to have had a major positive impact on the local economy.  The show has been on cable for 4 years now!  At this point one of their key craftsmen, Clint Harp, is about to debut with his own DYI show entitled “Wood Work”. 

The business keeps expanding.  The Gaines’s now sell paint, wallpaper, rugs, apparel, jewelry, bag and purses, seeds and even tool belts.  They’ve announced that they will open a breakfast/lunch restaurant later this year.  They even co-wrote a best-selling book entitled “The Magnolia Story” and Chip has a book coming out, (It can be pre-ordered now), that will be called “Capital Gaines: The Smart Things I Learned by Doing Stupid Stuff”. 

We’re looking forward to Season 5 of “Fixer Upper” on HGTV!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave