Unfortunately you have left one of the "holy lands" of woodworking and landed in one of the deserts. This area - and BCS in particular - has not seen a lot of woodworking activity and merchandise in general except a few niches (like wood turning).
I blame it on the lack of snow that keeps people in for months at a time (compared to the Midwest & New England), lack of machine tooling and manufacturing (Midwest), lack of furniture making tradition (MA, PA and Carolinas) and the relative lack of furniture hardwoods (Midwest and anything east of Miss. River).
Add in a relatively young demographic and finding stuff here is hard. The MSC used to have some tools but alas it is no more. Hoping the growing retiree community might bring more in but not sure how the baby boom generation will take to it. The "greatest generation" seems to have been much more knowledgeable and interested in the crafts.
Love several that are mentioned already:
Gramercy - ToolsforWorkingWood.com and highly recommend. Small outfit. (got an order of stuff from them last week)
Don't have any Lie Nielsen but own a few tools from Lee Valley and highly recommend them.
Tool resources to check out in Texas other than Rockler and Woodcraft:
For Woodworkers in Waco (1209 Washington) - I have not used but seems to be building a small business for second-hand tools - Doesn't have website as I can tell but regularly advertises on CL.
Sample Craigslist ad
Dowd's Tools in Granbury. This is a gem and the semi-annual sale is worth driving up for (and being there when the doors open). He buys from estate sales and also brings down tools from other parts of the country. He has a
website but the
Facebook page is much more useful and updated more often.
Burr's Unfinished Furniture - Bryan - carries a good selection of General Finishes products. Milk paint, sealers, water and oil-based finishes. (One of the vintage places in downtown bryan has Chalk paint as well).
Learning resources to check out in Texas other than Rockler and Woodcraft:
Heritage School of Woodworking (aka Sustain Life) in Elm Mott. Variety of classes from beginner to advanced.
Website (Mentioned by someone above)
Wortheffort Woodworking - Just relocated to Austin -
http://wortheffort.com/ - (Would love to see something like this here) Shawn was in San Marcos but decided he needed to move to Austin as that is where most of students were coming from. Has brought in some of the biggest names in the craft to teach (C. Schwartz, J. Miller, B. Anderson) and is the only place in Texas to have done so that I know of. I was supposed to take a carving class there with Mary May that had to be canceled due to the move.