May 17, 2016
Fixer-Upper Chip and Joanna buy historic Elite Cafe in Waco
WACO - Waco’s own reality TV stars, Chip and Joanna Gaines, will get another chance to turn something old into gold, as they have bought the historic Elite Cafe on Waco’s...
WACO - Waco’s own reality TV stars, Chip and Joanna Gaines, will get another chance to turn something old into gold, as they have bought the historic Elite Cafe on Waco’s traffic circle.
Brock Murphy, spokesman for the Gaineses and their Magnolia-themed ventures, including Magnolia Market at the Silos in downtown Waco, confirmed the couple has acquired the 8,356-sf structure that went vacant in early February 2016.
The Elite can trace its founding back 97 years, to downtown Waco, and later became a popular stop for motorists traveling between Dallas and Austin before I-35 became part of the scenery of South Waco.
Stars of the home improvement show “Fixer Upper” on HGTV, the Gaineses have become a hit on television and in their hometown.
They took control of an aging cluster of rusting grain silos and a sagging warehouse at Sixth Street and Webster Avenue and transformed them into a marketplace for home décor, furniture and food trucks.
Waco’s Convention and Visitors Bureau reports Magnolia Market at the Silos attracts 25,000 visitors a week, and those traveling to the location near downtown will see lines of people extending along Webster Ave., some paying $10 to park on the premises of nearby First Baptist Church of Waco.
Vehicles bearing out-of-state license plates swarm the neighborhood.
Carla Pendergraft, who markets the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau, said, “I’m thrilled Chip and Joanna bought The Elite. It seems like everything they touch turns to gold, and in their hands, I can trust that The Elite will follow in that same vein, and maybe become something even better.”
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