Shop

And you thought this article was for women. Meat Church is the brainchild of acclaimed pit maestro Matt Pittman. The name of the enterprise is more than a clever play on words. Barbecue and grilling are a religion, nowhere more so than in Texas. Pittman started in North Texas and exploded onto the celebrity barbecue scene. Matt is a global phenomenon now, but his retail location in Waxahachie is his home base.

The right tools, rubs, and techniques can make you a barbecue and grilling star. Or they might rob you of any excuse, but we try to stay positive. M’Lissa had to pull Steve out of this one. A carnivore’s dream if there ever was one.

We have been to innumerable vintage shops, mainly because one thing is true: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” The trash-to-treasure ratio tends to be wildly variable, creating uneven experiences until we found Fortney House. Here, it is all treasure.

The main store is on Mound Street in Nacogdoches in a restored Victorian Mansion, while the downtown store on Main Street is packed with clearance items. The Mound Street store has three advantages over every vintage store in the world. First, it is carefully curated and organized. The inventory does not overwhelm; if you are looking for something specific, you do not waste time.  Second, if it is not of excellent quality, it is not in the store. Third, owner Brad Fortney picked everything in the place, and he can tell you the story behind each piece.

There is a reason interior decorators and set designers worldwide trek to Nacogdoches. You just have to see it to believe it.

We often extoll Albany’s greatness, and Blanton-Caldwell is a big reason why. Very few stores anywhere meet this test–husband and wife remain comfortable looking around after thirty minutes. Put M’Lissa and me in a golf pro shop, and I might analyze their tee selection for an hour, but after passing through the golf skirt rack, M’Lissa is finished. She could live at Nordstrom’s, but I will be out the door once I finish with their Tommy Bahama selection.

Blanton-Caldwell is the marriage counselor of stores, with something for everyone: women’s wear and men’s wear; bakery tools for women, and grilling tools for men; sporting goods and home decor; and finally, gifts for the kids and grandkids. The bonus is that the inventory consists of high-quality goods that are often seen only in big-city specialty stores.  

Blue Star is the very best of the best. We are not sure exactly how Hico pulls off being Hico. However they do it, there is a crazy surplus of great shopping, eating, and music in this tiny town at the intersection of State Highway 6 and US Highway 281. It might be the magnetic pull of the Billy the Kid Museum, but we suspect something deeper is at play here.

Blue Star has been the anchor of this little miracle beginning in 1999. The beautifully redone and spacious physical store was a perfect starting spot. Keeping historical touches like the old vaults and period pictures upstairs was thoughtful stuff. The coup de grâce is the astonishing variety of high-quality goods available. We are always surprised and never disappointed.

Can there be a more Texas name than “Buck Ferguson?” It is so perfect that we thought it had to have been made up. But no, there was a real Buck Ferguson, who, it turns out, was a rodeo legend. Of course.

Buck was also a notable Western artist, and the store originally served as his outlet for his creative work. Kerry, Buck’s daughter, inherited Buck’s creativity and has transformed the store into the perfect ranch house with an extra-large closet—western chic at its absolute best, presented in a cozy, finished environment. 

Like Hico, Brenham is a small town shopper’s dream. There are multiple stores worthy of your consideration. The Ballad of the Bird Dog is on the honorable mention roll call, and that is just the beginning.  Hermann Emporium is the star of it all.

Let’s start with the history. G. Hermann Furniture has been in Washington County since 1876, which, for those with calculators, will be 150 years next year. The Emporium is carved out of the furniture store, so you are being served by five generations of retail. That is not something one sees every day.

All of that experience pays off in the Emporium. A little bit of everything, all the best of its class, is on display. We love shopping for the kids and grandchildren here. Something about a kid dressed in quality casual clothes makes the knees grow weak. We want to look sharp and comfortable for our family pictures. Also, we want something in our pocket to bribe the kids into good behavior as the picture-taking session wears on. Voila! Hermann Emporium is a one-stop shopping destination. 

Can you truly wear Western wear and be Hollywood-hip? Yes, you can. And we say that without knowing you because we are confident that the good people at Rollfast can pull that trick off for anyone. 

Lockhart was having its post-barbecue moment even though the barbecue is still amazing.  Rollfast was in the middle of it in a smallish shop in the heart of the courthouse square. We are unsure if the boom raised the lease rate or if demand outstripped the ability to service it in Lockhart (we hope the latter), but the founders moved the operation to San Antonio. We keep it on the list because it is such a great store, and the whole idea of it is still Lockhart. 

Surprising is a wonderful adjective. Life should be full of surprises. Finding high-quality mid-modern furniture and cool rock vintage things in the very western town of Coleman was a perfect example of how great surprises can be. 

Bonneville is a consignor store, but the quality of the consignment is tightly controlled. There is more than one style for sale, but mid-modern is the calling card. The sale collection is good enough to have pieces you want to buy to build a Palm Springs house around them. Why and how they make their way to Coleman is a mystery, but one you should explore. 

It doesn’t hurt that the Owl Drug Store with its ’50s throwback soda fountain is nearby. 

Julien’s motto is “lifestyle store.” Well, it is a lifestyle we aspire to. Large, varied, and relaxed are all descriptive words here. M’Lissa is a big fan of dishes, so she is a big fan of Julien’s.  M’Lissa is a big fan of understated but noticeable home decor pieces, so she is a big fan of Julien’s. M’Lissa is a big fan of colorful and comfortable on-the-town wear, so she is a big fan of Julien’s.  M’Lissa is a big fan of returning with grandchildren they have never seen before, so she is a big fan of Julien’s. M’Lissa is a big fan of quality design within reach if you really stretch ( I am looking at you, Jon Hart), so she is a big fan of Julien’s. 

I am a big fan of M’Lissa, so I am a big fan of Julien’s. I’m only halfway kidding. If you want the bespoke rancher look or your wife wants you to have that look, you will be a big fan of Julien’s. We imagine you might bump into Matthew McConaughey when he visits his hometown store, or maybe the ghosts of John Nance Garner and Dolph Briscoe. Whoever is shopping at Julien’s will be someone you want to know. 

Bechants is the most beautiful store in Texas—not just the most beautiful store in a small town in Texas, but is numero uno without qualification. It is like Hickory winning the Indiana state basketball championship in Hoosiers. Every year.

We had the advantage of visiting on a Thanksgiving weekend, so the Christmas decorations were out in full force. That fact was a feature rather than a bug. The store, all done up, was every bit the New York City department store on Thanksgiving weekend. The building, gorgeous inside and out, suggested 1950s elegance. It was like time travel, however, in that there are not 70 years of wear in those 1950s vibes. At the same time, it looks old and as if it opened to the public for the first time today.

The inventory took it to another level. We do not know who Bechants’s buyers are or who buys Bechants’s offerings, but they all have incredible taste. Texas sophisticated is what we call it. Set your table, clothe your body, or cover your walls and floors. It is of one piece. It would be remarkable in downtown Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, or Austin. The fact that they can pull it off in downtown Boerne is crazy.

It may seem silly to go overboard on a department store, but we defend our excitement with this thought: About 95% of us say we want stronger communities, a slower pace, and an original, authentic lifestyle. Then we all head to the cities and shop at Target when we are flush and at Wal-Mart when we are not.  We are not casting stones; that is our life, too.

However, the stores on this list prove that rural life does not automatically equate to a barren lifestyle. Bechants and the others might just be a small argument in favor of the idea that having it all remains a worthwhile dream. And if not, you can still get quite the dopamine jolt by stopping in.