Diane and I were enjoying a visit by Jean, a long-time
friend of Diane’s. Jean resides in Rhode Island and spent some time with us
during the hottest Summer in North Texas (or anywhere for that matter). Jean,
apparently, is a big Joanna and Chip Gaines fan and one of the things on her
bucket list (and Diane’s) was to visit Gaines World (sorry, Magnolia Farms) in Waco, Texas
I was a viewer for many
of the early years until…Shiplap happened. Suddenly all Joanna’s projects “had”
to include that flagitious white planking on at least one wall or along with
a headboard or two. Sorry…I had to draw the line
there. I could sometimes sense the new owners on reveal day looking at their newly remodeled and
flipped home wondering how that entered into the design. I understand the designers desire to
“leave their mark” on a room or home but my first question on camera might have been, “Ah…..can we take
that down after the show’s over?”
But you have to hand it to them, they took a
formula house flipping show and built a brand that blossomed to include their
own television network, books, magazines and a killer merchandizing program
that is generating lots of revenue.
So, we decided to make the two hour drive down
the I-35 to visit Nirvana. The ride was typical Central Texas (well…most of
Texas) in that it’s flat as a board and most times on the Interstates, you can
see where you’ll be in an hour or so.
Making the trek down
I-35 is not complete unless you make a stop in
West, Texas. About halfway
between Dallas and Waco, it is Kolache Center (a delicious Czech fruit filled
pastry) for most Texans. West was originally settled by Czechoslovakian immigrants
who grew cotton, wheat, grain sorghum, and raised cattle. You may have heard of the
huge fertilizer explosion in 2013. A fire set off the entire supply of Ammonium
Nitrate (think Oklahoma Bombing) at West Fertilizer and killed 15 (mostly first
responders trying to put out the fire) and injured 200.
West
has been recognized as the “Czech Heritage Capital of Texas” and “home of the official
Kolache of the Texas Legislature”. We made a stop at Slovacek’s at exit 353.
There Jean and Diane made an initial reconnaissance (and restroom break) for
future pastry and trinket purchases on the way home. We then proceeded into Waco.
Waco (named after the
Native American tribe who
lived there) is a medium size city of around 140,000 and is the County Seat of
McLennan County. It is better known as the home of Baylor University (
Go Bears), the Texas Ranger Museum, the Dr. Pepper Museum and the home of one of
the best preserved
Columbian Mammoth
sites in the world.
In 1978, bones were discovered emerging from
the mud at the confluence of the Brazos and Bosque
Rivers
. Excavations revealed the
remains of at least 24 Mammoths, one camel, and one large cat were found,
making it one of the largest findings of its kind. And you can’t forget David
Koresh and the Waco standoff outside of town and the home to the White House Press
Center near George W. Bush’s Ranch in nearby Crawford, Texas. So, Waco was
already a house-hold name when Jo and Chip showed up on the scene.
Now about Magnolia Market (or as I refer to it
the “Holy Land”). Cotton was, and still is, a big deal in Texas. Early settlers
of Texas in the mid-nineteenth century, grew, ginned, and shipped cotton not
only throughout Texas, but also to Europe, South America, and India. Cottonseed
was second only to lumber as the most important cash crop in Texas (prior to
oil being discovered). Not only did they ship raw cotton to the milliners of
the world, mills sprang up all over the state as Texas established itself as
the leading processor of cottonseed in the nation, and one of the largest
suppliers of cooking oil, shortening, margarine, and salad oil—byproducts of
cottonseed oil. Waco reigned in the South as the “King of Cotton” until the
onset of the Great Depression.
In Waco, in 1910, J. T. Davis established Brazos Valley Cotton Oil, Inc. The main operations of the company took place at
a mill located on the block between Webster Avenue and Jackson Avenue in the
heart of Waco’s business district where Magnolia Market now resides.
By purchasing thousands of tons of cottonseed
annually from farmers, and employing up to 75 men, workers then extracted oil
from the cottonseed to be used for both cooking and industrial purposes. After
the mill processed the seed, the oil was shipped all over the world. Whatever
was left over, in order to prevent unnecessary waste, the mill sold unused meal
as cattle feed. The Great Depression marked the decline of Waco’s cotton
industry, but business at the cotton oil mill continued for many years.
In 1950, workers completed construction on the
two 120-foot-tall silos which today are Magnolia Market’s most notable
landmarks. Between 1957 and the late 1980s, the plant changed hands several times
but was no longer active and was finally vacant by the 1990s.
In 2014, local residents and now famous
house-flippers Joanna and Chip Gaines purchased the property with the intention
of building their brand and resurrecting the historic property.
They opened their anchor store, Magnolia Market,
and have added additions such as a retail showroom (Magnolia Home), a monthly
antique and craft market, a Whiffle Ball playing field, Magnolia Press Coffee (I’m
sensing a theme here) and a food truck court. They are also working to retain
the historic integrity of the site through efforts such as the preservation of
the original silos. After years of disuse, the reimagined mill and now Market remains
the centerpiece of the city’s economic redevelopment.
We got our bearings and made a beeline for the
Magnolia Table, a restaurant inside the historic (flipped and remodeled) Elite
Café opened in 1919. The menu was simple and had all your standard Breakfast
and Brunch fare. The food was well-made and there was a lot of it. I had the
Avocado Toast with scrambled egg.
Diane and Jean each had the Farm Breakfast.
Jean got sausage and Diane got the bacon. They also included these little
handmade tater tot potatoes. Food was good, service not so great. Our server
didn’t recall Jean had asked for Decaf and he dropped the ball on waters and
coffee refills.
We then made our way to
Magnolia Market, a
short distance away. There, all things Joanna and Chip reside. There are T-shirts,
hoodies, hats, antiques and bric-a-brac galore for the discriminate home
decorator in us all (well, some of us anyway). There is a cornucopia of other
things Joanna and Chip on the surrounding property. Like Disneyland, there’s a
treat (literally) around every corner. Food trucks litter the back lot as well
as other vendors hawking their sweets and drinks. There’s a large park-like
area with places to sit and imbibe in their branded food and coffee drinks, and
an outside production studio kitchen area from which they conduct their cooking
competitions. For a walk-thru of the back lot, click
HERE.
Of course, the ladies came out with several
purchases including a walk-through of Joanna’s Silos Baking Company. Like
Disneyland, customers had to wait in a cue outside and a gatekeeper handed out price
lists of the items inside then allowed you through the door, one at a time, so
you didn’t waste valuable Magnolia Time pacing around the shop. It’s important
to note that most of the people I saw on the grounds were women. Oh sure, there
was the occasional husband/boyfriend but mostly it was individuals and packs of
women taking group selfies and rummaging through the place. They certainly had found
their demographic for sure.
And why, you ask, did they name their company “Magnolia?” Well, Chip explained to People.com,“You know
what’s interesting about a Magnolia tree?” he asked his kids after they plant
one together. "On one of our first dates, I climbed up a Magnolia tree and
I pulled her off a Magnolia bloom and I gave it to her.” (Can you hear the
collective “Awwwwwwww…from the romantics out there?) Folks, you can’t make this
stuff up. Oh yeah, it’s probably important to mention both Joanna and Chip are
both graduates of Baylor University, she has a degree in Communications and he
in Business. These aren’t just two house flippers, folks. We’re talking bonafide
entrepreneurs who took home remodeling to a new level and created an empire.
 |
| Silos Baking Company |
The ladies had gotten their
Jo Jo fix (I’m calling her that now that we’re friends and have a new-found
respect for one another). They were all shopped out and ready to leave but not
before a return stop at Slovacek’s to pick up stuff they didn’t get the first
time then the long and winding road back through Fort Worth and Dallas traffic
back to our homestead in Aubrey.
