Did the city of Waco, Texas have any role in the inception of the worldwide phenomena that is Magnolia Market, Magnolia Bakery, Magnolia Farms and of course, TV juggernaut Fixer Upper? It’s incredible! Regardless … what a boon to Waco. I have seen the show a few times, and I always walk away thinking “Why in the world are all those house-hunting folks moving to Waco?”.
Have you seen the show? ( … Asking the guys … Women, I know you have.)
https://magnoliamarket.com/a-peek-into-our-past/
The house-flipping, home designing, feel-good family show features a gifted, perhaps driven interior design marvel and a somewhat farmer/GQish, good-old-boy home remodeler. This charming couple has developed a multi-media/retail empire … now housed in old grain storage facilities.
(Don’t forget the Season 4 finale of “Fixer Upper” tonight … btw)
Ha … not unlike most TV couples, the two seem to go at it occasionally, in a very loving, good natured way. She of course wins and he smiles … perfect harmony … but you can tell they are wired differently, as the Creator intended. Vive la différence! I was thinking about the couple and their different temperaments when I spotted the improbable …
Yes, as I stood on line, about a block from Magnolia Bakery, a young Magnolia staffer handed me an order card that listed all of the baked goodies. “AHA!” “TYPO!” I laughed that my journalism degree had finally come in handy as I found a typographical error on the bakery menu.
Ha … I bet money that the little incorrectly turned quotation mark — that minor deviation from Magnirvana perfecthood — was the sort of thing that would keep Joanna up at night (so don’t tell her). But as for Chip … hell, he would probably just pile the cards in a stack, run over them with a Bobcat or a forklift and move on …
So anywho … at a time when Waco and Baylor — which are pretty much synonymous in a post-Branch Davidian world — have earned lots of bad press, The F.U.s (Fixer Uppers) are overshadowing the negative news from the college football team and rebuilding Waco’s brand.
(Interesting … the Baylor Bears football team and its abusive exploits have generated more bad press that their basketball team did a few years ago when one former player killed a teammate. Go figure … I digress …)
Back to raving about Mr. and Mrs. Gaines: The marketability of the Waco power couple even transcends political correctness, as the two profess their adherence to the truth of the Scriptures in an anything-goes world … their popularity grows even though they hold to traditional family values. Unheard of!
Of course the secular world continues to take shots at their faith, fame and fortune, including more that one (in our opinion) frivolous lawsuits attempting to glean some easy money from the Silos home improvement team.
Who would ever have thought a couple could repurpose old grain silos to create a tourist attraction. I once repurposed a very small grain silo in my home town. There was a silo partially caved in and unused in my home town, about a block from the courthouse. Perhaps less creative than Joanna and Chip, I hid my beer stash in the silo for the weekend festivities. There’s the proof. I guess silos are the ultimate multi-purpose storage facility.
Funny … one of my high school buds back in the day, told me he dreamed he and I invested in an old grain elevator out on Route 66 and that we made a cool bachelor pad high atop the western icon … What a great idea … some 35 years ago … I digress.
Moving forward … Thinking the sky is the limit for the Gaineseseses and seeing how most marketing entities are trying to incorporate more social media and social networking into their mix, I have to wonder if the Christian pair might someday start an online dating service, also called Fixer Upper … I jest.
So … anyone wondering why the PingWi-Fi team was in Waco at Magnolia Market?
Well … Wi-Fi was the excuse, but that didn’t fly. There were several Wi-Fi networks that popped up around Magnolia World, but none were intended for visitors. What the!?! Oh well … I put away the Wi-Fi devices and concentrated on cupcakes. For once, I passed on red velvet and steamed through a lemon/lavender cream cupcake. Incredible.
Despite the Wi-Fi deficiency and the typo, there were lots of activities … food trucks, bag toss games, swingsets (beware future law suits), selfies … 6 pings on a scale of 7.
Did Risk Manager Approve Swing?
Also amid the crafty atmosphere, I really had to question why one guy and his son — in a throng of women, arts and crafts, toddlers, young kids, etc. — felt the need to throw a football on the courtyard turf. Ha … it donned on me that the wannabe QB was juxtaposed with a largely female demographic group shopping that day. He probably just wanted to make sure his manhood was still intact, since admittedly we probably all gave up our “man cards” at the door when we set foot in Magnolia … at least temporarily.
Mom Hasn’t Mastered Bag Toss … Yet
Regardless … great time … and I spit and scratch rather manfully now as I retell the tale and do all the required man things … and I inform you a-matter-of-factly for the record that I did a hardcore, high-speed motorcycle tour of the backroads of Texas before I parked and waited in line for cupcakes. It seemed like a great idea for a nice little ride … and “who knows” … I figured the King and Queen of Waco might visit the store on a slow Monday. Ha … incidentally, during the Waco stop, more guys missing their man cards eventually migrated over to the bike to talk motorcycles and man stuff …
So no Wi-Fi, and back on the Triumph Thunderbird … man card in check … fighting the beautiful urge to stop and take photos of the bluebonnets … everywhere!
Know what I sayin?
