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The Kingman family, pictured from left, Jeanette, Jordan, Jocelyn and Jerad, snap a photo at Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco, Texas. The home furnishing shopping complex created by Chip and Joanna Gaines is very welcoming to families, with a huge lawn, food trucks, bakery and more.

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From spreads in HGTV Magazine to their own Magnolia Journal, Chip and Joanna Gaines have been in the limelight since their design show began in 2013.

Loco for Waco

Thousands of ‘Fixer Upper’ fans go on pilgrimage to Magnolia Market

    Sure, we’ve got plenty of silos around here. Big ones, little ones, you name it. The problem is, the silos around here aren’t the Silos.
    If you’ve got any interest in the home improvement and interior design world, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
    I’m talking about Magnolia Market at the Silos. Sound familiar now?
    Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper,” have added a shopping complex to their growing list of ventures — renovating homes, appearing on a TV show, writing a book, publishing a magazine, designing a home decor line and raising four (soon to be five) ridiculously cute kids.
    And in typical Gaines fashion, they couldn’t just build a new store and call it good. They decided instead to give new life to a place that seemed hopeless — something that “Fixer Upper” fans are used to seeing on the show.
    Chip and Jo transformed two city blocks in downtown Waco, Texas, into Magnolia Market, with the most recognizable landmark at the center of it all — two 120-foot-tall silos.
    And with the Gaines’ growing popularity since their show started in 2013, it’s no surprise that the silos are enticing millions of tourists to make Waco (population 134,000) a destination of choice.
    “Magnolia was a big selling point for our trip to Waco,” said Jeanette Kingman of Holyoke, who traveled there in February with husband Jerad, twin girls Jocelyn and Jordan, and in-laws Jerry and Kim Kingman.
    “It was very welcoming and very family oriented,” said Kim. “It was just so fun.”
    There’s a large lawn where kids can play while families enjoy a bite to eat from the bakery (which has really amazing cupcakes) or from the many food trucks parked at Magnolia Market. The food trucks are especially good for the husbands who might not buy into the hype of Magnolia, said Jeanette.
    Inside the Silos themselves, shoppers can browse home decor ideas, including staged areas with mock fireplaces that feature Joanna’s signature design — modern farmhouse, shiplap, salvaged wood, neutral colors, etc. When people see this design style, “it just looks like Jo,” said Jeanette, noting that it’s so easy to copy her style and bring the farmhouse look into one’s own home.
    Of course, there’s also plenty of Magnolia souvenirs for sale at the Silos too. There’s even a convenient shipping station that can be used to send items straight back home without lugging them 800+ miles to Colorado or Nebraska in a car or plane.
    Jeanette and Kim both said that the experience at the Silos was very genuine and it didn’t feel like a tourist trap.
    However, there were plenty of tourists to be had. The Kingman family was fortunate to arrive at Magnolia Market first thing in the morning on a weekday. “It was packed all day,” said Jeanette, noting they made a good choice by going to the bakery first thing. The line wound around the block the rest of the day.

Read the full story and many others FREE in the 2018 Home Improvement special e-Edition!

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