How These HGTV Stars Flipped the Economy in Their Texas Town

Published: October 16, 2024

How These HGTV Stars Flipped the Economy in Their Texas Town

Movieguide® Contributor

For many who knew the name Waco, it didn’t mean much.

But then Chip and Joanna Gaines picked up a hammer and some nails.

“In 2013, Chip and Joanna Gaines entered the picture and fixed up a few forlorn houses,” My SanAntonio reported Oct. 13. “Nowadays, Waco is a vacation destination thanks to these home renovation superstars. They thoroughly revitalized the city, demolishing the town’s ignominious backstory in the process.”

“When their show ‘Fixer Upper’ premiered over a decade ago, it was an instant success,” My San Antonio continued. “Viewers loved Chip’s goofy demeanor, Jo’s long-suffering patience with her spouse, and their chic-yet-laid-back modern farmhouse home renovations. By 2016, HGTV called it the most successful show to ever air on the network.”

The show has had five seasons on HGTV. The couple has their own cable network, Magnolia, and have several spin-off shows, a successful business, Magnolia Market, a restaurant, and a luxury historic hotel– all in Waco.

The couple just celebrated the tenth anniversary of FIXER UPPER this year.

Movieguide® reported:

“When you think about the original FIXER and the template of around 17 episodes a season and they were hourlong episodes and you’d get this reno within that hour, that’s TV gold,” Joanna said. “And we did that for five seasons and we worked our butts off for it and when we look back, we don’t know how we did it. It was so much going on, because not only were we doing the show and these renovations, we were doing other renovations, and doing Magnolia, which is the retail side and growing that business as well.”

Not to mention they were also parenting five young kids.

“There are easy things to put together, like when Jo goes and does a cooking show, it’s been beautiful to watch,” Chip added. “That’s a compatible source; you can take this thought and you can take this industry, which is the TV side of the business, and you can put those together fairly seamlessly. With construction and real customers and real timelines, these are complicated oil-and-water realities to mix together. We were the tail and there was a dog wagging us, years and years ago, and it was fine. And it worked out and by the grace of God, we learned a lot and we all made it out alive.”

The Gaines ventures have put Waco on the map.

The now tourist hotspot recently hosted its “Silobration” event, a nod toward the Magnolia Market silos. Approximately 35-40,000 people attended the event on Oct. 10-12 to bask in all things FIXER UPPER. It included tours of the couple’s renovations, such as a castle and gristmill, live music and seasonal items for sale at their market. The last night ended with a bang (fireworks).

“While Waco’s population has grown a bit over the years—by 4.06% since 2020—a more sizable ripple can be seen in its housing market,” My San Antonio said.

“In the past eight years, Waco has seen some of the strongest listing price growth in Texas and in the country,” said Realtor.com economist Joel Berner, who moved to Waco in 2013.

Waco’s listings have increased by 90.8% since 2016. Its numbers are incredibly high compared to Dallas, which has had only 5.2% growth, and Austin, which has had 44.3% growth.

Today, Waco homes sell at a median of $275,000.

“‘Fixer Upper’ has put the eyes of the country on Waco, transforming it into a legitimate tourist attraction and kicking off a home renovation frenzy that has added value to the stock of homes in the city,” said Berner. “Not only are existing homes getting the shiplap treatment in Waco, but newly built homes now make up a much higher percentage of the for-sale market than they did in 2016, pushing up the median listing price.”

My San Antonio added, “Waco’s newly booming tourism business has brought plenty of new jobs, too. The Greater Waco Economic Index pushed into record-setting territory in 2016, according to Texas-based economist Karr Ingham. Meanwhile, the Texas A&M Research Center at Texas A&M University observed that in Waco, “New homes are rising, existing homes are selling, and improving job figures mean more people can afford them.”

Local realtor, Aaron Williams, says that the Gaines are to be credited for much of the town’s development.

“‘Fixer Upper’ put a generally positive national spotlight on Waco,” he said. “Before that, we had mostly been known as a town that has seen many great tragedies—like a devastating tornado, the Branch Davidian siege, and the Twin Peaks biker shootout. There’s no question that Magnolia as an organization has drawn in visitors and has positively contributed to our local economy.”

Susan Morton, tourism manager at the Waco Convention & Visitors Bureau, said that previously the majority of Waco’s visitors came from in-state. Now, half of them come from out-of-state, thanks to the Gaines.

Realtor Cely Guzman says that over recent years, Waco has launched “numerous businesses, particularly in the hospitality and retail sectors, spurred by tourism. Waco has transformed from a quiet town to a booming hub.”

Another realtor, Amber Brown, says that the Gaines aren’t responsible for all of Waco’s developments.

“After the final season [of FIXER UPPER], tourism stayed pretty high for the Waco area,” she said. “But when COVID hit, tourism massively declined and it has not come up to the ‘Fixer Upper’-era level.”

“People are steadily moving into Waco because of how close we are to both Austin and the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the integration of remote working arrangements,” she says. “People can move to Waco and pay half to two-thirds of what they would pay for a home in the Austin or Dallas-Fort Worth market.”

She adds that Waco’s population also started to incline in the ‘90s, not just after the Gaines came to town.

“The Waco area has seen major businesses like Walmart and Hello Bello move in. There’s also been the expansion of big companies like SpaceX and a 7,000-square-foot Amazon warehouse, which employs around 1,000 full-time employees and began operating in July 2022,” My San Antonio said.

“We are noticing in the real estate market the influx of new-home builders to accommodate the drastic increase in huge businesses moving into Waco increasing jobs and pay,” Brown says.

While Waco’s location is its main selling point, the Gaines dramatically boosted people’s awareness to the town, Brown maintains.