How Chip and Joanna Gaines turned a tiny shop and real-estate company into a Magnolia empire
"Fixer Upper" rocketed Chip and Joanna Gaines into stardom, and it became one of HGTV's most successful series of all time, according to Country Living.
The first season premiered in May 2013, and by the time the final season of the series was airing in 2017, the Gaineses were making $30,000 per episode, as Insider previously reported.
The Gaineses founded Magnolia Realty in 2003 in Waco, Texas.
Chip used to own the company with John L. Lewis and Richard L. Clark, who later sued Chip for over $1 million, as Insider previously reported. Lewis and Clark said that Chip pressured them into selling their shares of the company for just $2,500 each in May of 2013, just before it was announced the Gaineses would star in "Fixer Upper."
A judge dismissed the lawsuit and sealed the records of the case, including Chip's deposition on the matter, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
Magnolia Realty has since expanded to five other markets in Texas, as stated on the company's website.
But the company was likely not worth much before the couple rose to fame. As Insider previously reported, Chip had to go to county jail just after their first son Drake was born in 2005 because he and Joanna had accrued $2,500 in unpaid tickets for allowing their dogs to roam around unleashed. Joanna had to scrape together money for his $800 bail.
"I think for me, the best lesson is always having a nest egg on the side," Joanna told Insider of the incident.
The Little Shop on Bosque was the original Magnolia Market, and Joanna opened it in 2003 after getting encouragement from Chip, according to the Magnolia website.
As the Gaineses wrote on their website, the shop closed in 2014 before reopening in 2018 as a destination for "slightly damaged and last chance items at a discount" from the Magnolia line.
The Magnolia Market at the Silos is the modern iteration of the Gaineses' Little Shop on Bosque in Waco, Texas, and it opened in 2015, according to People.
The store focuses on selling home goods, and it is updated seasonally by Joanna and her team.
"Jo curates the full product assortment at Magnolia Market and on magnolia.com to reflect the colors, textures, and beauty of each season," the Gaineses' website says of the store.
Tourism in Waco has boomed since the Gaineses opened the Silos. According to the Waco tourism site, 564,000 people visited the city in 2013, and the city was getting over 2 million annual visitors by 2019.
Like the Magnolia Market, Magnolia Seed + Supply is at the Silos in Waco, Texas.
It opened in 2016, as the International Business Times reported. The store has a variety of gardening products, and it supplies food to the Gaineses' Magnolia Table and the Salvation Army, as stated on its website.
Silos Baking Co. opened in 2016, as Bake reported.
It offers cookies, cupcakes, croissants, and more, according to its menu. You can also order some of its products online for delivery.
Silos visitors can also buy food from Magnolia-owned brands at food trucks that come to the property.
The Magnolia Journal, which is released quarterly, is essentially Chip and Joanna's version of O, The Oprah Magazine or Martha Stewart, and it typically features a photo of Joanna on the cover.
As the Magnolia website states, the Journal includes recipes, advice, and stories designed to be a "resource and a guide to living well." It has over 5.5 million readers, according to Forbes.
Joanna has also used the Journal as a way to speak directly to her fans. For instance, Joanna wrote an essay in the fall 2021 issue called "A Time For Forward Motion" that addressed the negativity the Gaineses sometimes experience online. The essay was also published on the Magnolia blog.
Target first announced in a press release that it would be partnering with the Gaineses on "Hearth & Home" in 2017.
The home line, which includes both decor and furniture, is now a familiar sight at Targets around the country, though not all of the Gaineses' fans were excited about the collaboration with Target when it was first announced.
As Insider previously reported, some conservative members of the Gaineses' fanbase were disappointed the couple was partnering with Target because of its inclusive policy regarding bathroom usage for transgender customers.
The collection is also available on the Magnolia website.
Chip and Joanna wrote on their website that they wanted to open a coffee shop as a place for people to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life. The shop opened in 2018, as US Weekly reported.
"We believe there's a familiar and worthwhile pause waiting for us in a good cup of coffee. It's a welcome treat," they wrote on the Magnolia Press landing page. "It breaks up the day with a dose of comfort and familiarity."
"We wanted to create a place where guests could experience just that — a cozy and inspiring shop where life resounds and community is created," they went on to say.
Magnolia Table was previously known as the Elite Café, a popular Waco breakfast spot, as Insider previously reported. After it closed in 2016, the Gaineses bought it and turned it into Magnolia Table.
The new space is decorated with photos of Elite Café, and the Gaineses kept the original sign from the restaurant.
Since Magnolia Table opened in 2018, it's served a variety of breakfast and lunch fare, with the menu featuring everything from homemade biscuits to avocado toast.
According to Eater, it's common for the restaurant to have two-hour-long waits thanks to the influx of tourists frequently visiting it.
But Magnolia Table also has takeaway for diners who can't wait that long, according to the Magnolia website.
The Gaineses expanded the Silos in October of 2020, adding six new shops to the property, as People reported.
The expansion included Chapter One, a paper goods store that sells notebooks, books, and office supplies.
According to the Magnolia website, Joanna hand-curated Tried & True's collection of jewelry, bags, and other assorted accessories. The store was temporarily closed at the time of writing.
The store, which sells toys and children's clothes, is named after two members of Chip and Joanna's family.
The Gaineses' youngest son is Crew, and Juniper is one of Crew's cousins, according to the Magnolia website.
Reverie offers women's clothing, some of which you can also buy on the Magnolia website.
NO. 16 is the men's counterpart to Reverie, and it's named after Chip's former sports-jersey number, according to the Magnolia website.
Waco visitors can shop for makeup, skin-care products, and beauty tools at Vie Bien Aimee, as stated on the Magnolia website.
Chip and Joanna own four rental properties in Waco, Texas, according to the Magnolia website: the Carriage House, Magnolia House, Hillcrest Estate, and Hillcrest Cottage.
Visitors must rent the entire homes, two of which — Magnolia House and the Carriage House — were featured on "Fixer Upper," according to the Magnolia site.
The properties rent for hundreds of dollars per night, with the Hillcrest Estate having an average nightly cost of $1,020.
The Gaineses are also in the process of opening a boutique hotel in Waco, adding to their lodging repertoire, as they wrote on their website. It's set to open in 2023, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
The Gaineses have written eight books between them, all of which became New York Times bestsellers.
Together, Chip and Joanna published "The Magnolia Story," which gave readers a deeper look into their life.
Chip independently wrote "No Pain, No Gaines" and "Capital Gaines," two memoirs about his life and business ventures.
Joanna's five books include the design book "Homebody: Exclusive Edition"; two cookbooks, "Magnolia Table" and "Magnolia Table, Volume 2"; and two picture books, "The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be" and "We are the Gardeners," which she wrote with the help of her children.
The Gaineses announced they would be launching their own network in 2019, according to a Discovery press release. The network is available for streaming on Discovery+, and it rebranded the DIY channel, making its cable launch on January 5.
The new lineup includes "Fixer Upper: Welcome Home," a reboot of their beloved series.
The network made its cable debut on January 5, 2022, with a full slate of shows.
One Magnolia original series, "Home Work," was temporarily pulled from its lineup after homeowners alleged the hosts, Candis and Andy Meredith, went tens of thousands of dollars over budget, damaged their homes, and didn't complete renovations in some cases. The Merediths denied the allegations, and Magnolia began airing the show at the end of January, as Insider previously reported.
Despite the controversy, Magnolia's cable debut was largely a success, with 3 million people tuning into the channel on the day of its launch, according to a Magnolia press release shared with Insider.
