Inside Magnolia Market at the Silos
We expected to see the sleepy Texas town of television fame when we pulled into downtown Waco. Instead, there were lines of cars circling the blocks near the Silos, looking for street parking. SUVs pulled up alongside the busy sidewalk, discharging beaming women and children into the throngs as husbands gave up and paid $10 to park at a nearby Baptist church.
My family and I were like the hundreds, if not a thousand, tourists visiting Magnolia Market at the Silos, the rustic world headquarters of Magnolia, the business empire run by Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV’s Fixer Upper.
We’d come on a bit of a lark, having spent nearly a week visiting the Texas Hill Country, San Antonio, and Austin. When we woke to a cloudy, cool day in Austin, we decided to take the hour and a half road trip to see the town in which the wildly popular show is filmed and the Gaines family lives. The sun broke through the clouds as we headed north to Waco, with a brutal wind that tousled the hair of the young women taking selfies on the sidewalk when we arrived.
Magnolia Market functions as a sort of home decor theme park. There’s a large courtyard of plastic turf grass upon which dozens of cornhole boards are set up. Tired women perch upon elegantly striped beanbag chairs as toddlers waddle amongst the throngs. Food trucks circle the courtyard. None of them serve beer.
After a quick stop in the restrooms (“Subway tile. Of course!” one woman chuckles, as if recalling a personality quirk of a close personal friend) we enter Magnolia Market.
It is carefully controlled bedlam.
Dozens of sweet young women wearing headsets dart around the carefully curated displays, restocking wire racks with clear glass vials that customers are snatching off the shelves. There are signs with encouraging slogans. (“Today is a good day for a good day.” “There will be miracles.”) Large clocks. So many visitors from afar are buying these large pieces there is a FedEx shipping center in the store to ship your finds home to you.
There are scores of fake flowers for sale, which stick out of many customers’ bags. The jewelry that Joanna wears on the show is available for purchase. (This is tempting to me, because the style I most covet on Fixer Upper is Joanna’s polished yet casual hippie esthetic.) You can buy the Magnolia hats, shirts, and vests that Chip wears. There is a shirt that reads “#demoday.” One must wait at the wall of t-shirts for an opening, then dive in to select a style and size.
All the shirts are so, so soft. I buy a Magnolia baseball shirt for $26. It feels as comforting as watching an episode of Fixer Upper.
After waiting in line to make our purchases, we decided to check out the line for the Silos Baking Co. It snakes around the corner of the building, but, as one staffer mentions, it often extends to the back of the second silo on weekends. It is another masterfully controlled piece of Gaines chaos. While waiting outside, another sweet young woman hands out menus and Magnolia-emblazoned golf pencils so customers can write their selections before they even enter the store. We are warned they are low on cookies.
Once inside, we’re told the bakery is out of the Silo cookies and chocolate chip cookies Joanna often has waiting for clients on the show. We settle for cupcakes and a cinnamon roll. “We are also out of coffee,” the clerk says sheepishly.
The cupcakes are incredible. Rich, moist cake and thick, grainy frosting. We wash them down with elderflower lemonade made in New York instead of coffee.
We stroll along the perimeter of the courtyard, watching people stop every few feet for a selfie. A woman wearing a “#demoday” t-shirt and a smile as wide as her face takes a photo of our family in one of the Instagram-friendly setups. We repay the favor for her and her partner.
We then walk through the raised bed gardens. My mother, an avid gardener, mentions that she would like something just like this. A small store near the garden sells every possible implement needed to create a Fairy Garden just like the ones around the property.
Before leaving, we take in the scene a final time. Most of the customers are white women, hauling armloads of bags around. Their clothes are polished and look expensive. Their husbands and boyfriends don’t seem too unhappy to be there. A few of them wear “Make America Great Again” hats. Dozens of employees scurry about, from gardeners to warehouse workers tossing packages into a large FedEx truck.
On our way out of Waco, we take a drive around the downtown. There are many empty storefronts. A large stadium that hosts Baylor University games sits imposing and empty on this sunny March day. The clouds pass by pleasantly. Just like the B-roll on the show.
