Magnolia Network Chip and Joanna Gaines on season 6 of "Fixer Upper"
Chip and Joanna Gaines, who skyrocketed to fame on HGTV‘s “Fixer Upper” and now run a cable network, magazine, tourist attraction, and lifestyle company, are fast-approaching a major milestone in their work together: the 20th anniversary of Magnolia, the massive brand that started out as a tiny shop in Waco, Texas. On social media and in a new blog post, the couple shared their reflections on the upcoming anniversary.
Chip & Joanna Gaines Look Back on 20 Years in Business
On January 26, 2023, the couple shared a video montage on Instagram of their journey building their brand from the ground up, from the 2003 opening of Joanna’s first shop — Magnolia, now called the Little Shop on Bosque. Chip made the now-infamous metal letter sign for Joanna and it still sits on the top of the shop.
When Joanna needed more time at home to raise their five kids, starting with the birth of firstborn Drake in 2005, the Gaines closed the shop for several years but reopened it in 2014. They quickly outgrew that space, according to their site, and relocated to the Gaines’ Silos property downtown in 2015, which has since become a huge tourist destination in Waco.
The Gaines still wanted to honor the origins of their amazing success story, so in 2018, the original store was renamed the Little Shop on Bosque and reopened again. Joanna reflected on the store in a June 2021 Instagram post, just before the launch of their Magnolia cable network, which now airs new episodes of “Fixer Upper” and many other lifestyle shows they star in or oversee.
She wrote, “Never in a million years did I think this little shop we opened in 2003 called Magnolia would one day have the word ‘network’ after it. I still can’t fully take it all in, but I’m thankful for everything that led us to this point—both the small, simple moments and also the big, exciting and difficult ones.”
After 10 years of slowly creating their lifestyle business and trying to make ends meet, the Gaines debuted on HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” and quickly became superstars. According to Insider, the first season premiered in May 2013 and by 2017, they were making $30,000 per episode.
In their latest Instagram post about their upcoming anniversary, Chip wrote, “It’s hard to believe, but this October will mark 20 years of @magnolia.. it’s been quite a ride (to say the least) but we wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.”
Chip Gaines Reflects on 20 Years of Magnolia in New Blog Post
GettyJoanna and Chip Gaines announcing their 2022 lineup of shows on Magnolia Network
In a new blog post on their site, Chip is sharing his reflections on nearly 20 years in business.
“Newly married and ready to take on the world, Jo had set her sights on a little shop on Bosque Boulevard in Waco,” he wrote. “We didn’t have much figured out in the way of numbers and finances, but we believed in each other, and we believed in a dream to build something that would matter—something that would be meaningful, not only to us, but to our family and our community.”
In addition to marveling that they’d grown from a family of two to seven over the past two decades, Chip also shared some of the professional highlights that stand out in his mind. He included a downpour on the day of the first Silobration — the annual festival they hold at the Silos that they turned into a tourist attraction of shops and eateries. He recalled a chance meeting with long-distance runner Gabriele Grunewald whose cancer battle, which ended with her 2019 death, inspired him to create an annual marathon at the Silos. Chip also said launching their magazine and purchasing “an old church, a dilapidated castle, and a newspaper building” were among his top moments of the last 20 years.
Chip’s highlights, he said, were all things he and Joanna decided to do because it felt right and energizing, not just because it looked like a particularly good business decision.
“For better or worse, we’ve trusted our gut instincts and held on to faith with a white-knuckled grip, trusting that no matter how something may appear on the surface, there’s always beauty waiting to be revealed underneath,” he wrote.
After spending much of their first decade struggling to make ends meet, their businesses began to take off with the launch of “Fixer Upper” and have thrived ever since. In November 2022, the couple appeared on the cover of Variety magazine’s “Lifestyle Leaders” issue, named the publication’s Entrepreneurs of the Year.
Celebrity Net Worth estimates the Gaines have a net worth of $50 million, thanks to a variety of revenue streams including their cable network, businesses like Magnolia Realty and Magnolia Homes, their Hearth & Hand product line for Target, numerous shops and restaurants in Waco, bestselling books, and more.
Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslov told Variety, “Chip and Jo have a huge fan base, and that’s because people trust them and want to spend time with them. They are wonderful people, and it has been incredibly rewarding to see them achieve so much success.”