128-year-old store in Archer opens under new ownership after major facelift
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ARCHER – After nearly two years of renovations, the old General Store in Archer is now open under new ownership.
Rexburg area couple Richard “Bud” and Bree Mason are the owners of the White Sparrow Country Store, which opened to the public on Saturday. Bud tells EastIdahoNews.com the turnout was better than anticipated.
“Opening day was amazing. We sold over 800 of the Southern-fried pies, (a southern dish that Bud describes as a southern version of an empanada with sweet or savory flavors). We had a line out the door the entire day,” Bud says. “I never expected this kind of reaction from the community.”
Bud is originally from the south and wanted to introduce the fried pies in eastern Idaho.
The store gets its name from Bree’s Instagram handle, @whitesparrowfarm, which has more than 92,000 followers nationwide.
People from all over the country came to the store on Saturday, including customers from Tennessee, Washington and Wyoming.
Bud says an official grand opening is in the works in the next several weeks.
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The Renovation
Since purchasing the store in Dec. 2018, the Masons have gutted the entire building and given it a complete facelift. Some of the changes include a raised ceiling “all the way to the rafters,” which gives the store a more open, spacious feel, Bud says.
It also has a unique wood flooring pattern made to look like a quilt.
“It took me and five employees over a month to put in this floor,” Bud says. “Every five feet by five feet is a different pattern designed out of wood.”
All the wood inside was painted white to resemble shiplap.
“It’s really hard to describe all the small details. It’s really a beautiful building now,” says Bud. “The last time anybody did much with it was about 20 years ago when the Lloyd’s owned it. It still had that 70s, 80s vibe to it. Everything was orange and red and yellow. It looked like an old, run-down gas station.”
As the Mason’s were remodeling the building, Bud says many people told them they had fond memories of riding bikes to the Lloyds’ store as kids to buy penny candy and ice cream.
“We decided we definitely want to keep that nostalgia of the store,” says Bud. “We’ll be offering penny candy by the weight just like they used to do it.”
The store also offers Reed’s Dairy ice cream and mixed sodas. Customers can also order a variety of Southern-fried pies.
But the main focus of the store is to be an extension of Bree’s farmhouse-style home decor company on Instagram. The store also includes a basic grocery store.
“For the people who live out here and don’t want to drive to Walmart to get a gallon of milk or bacon or flour,” says Bud.
The History
The Archer General Store has changed hands a number of times over the years. It dates back to 1892 and was originally owned by George and Sarah Briggs, Bree says. Most people in the community remember it as the Lloyds’ store.
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The store operated as a pizza restaurant for a brief time when Richard Holiday purchased it in 2016. Shawn and Kandee Boice were the most recent owners.
The Masons decided to purchase the business in 2018 because there was something about it that Bree was drawn to, Bud says.
“After we got going on the renovation, we looked into the history and found out that my wife is related to the original owner,” says Bud.
“The connection is Sarah Briggs,” Bree says. “The original owner is a cousin on my mother’s side.”
Bree was able to gain a large following on Instagram after designing their home. After posting pictures online, people asked her to design their home.
“Two years ago she didn’t even know how to use Instagram, but she turned it into a business and it kind of fell into her lap once she built our home.”
Interest in the country store increased after the online store launched several weeks ago.
Despite the hometown pride in the building, Bud says many people have tried to turn it into a successful business and it’s always failed within six months to a year. Bud and his wife are hoping to change that trend.
“It’s such a cool building with a cool history, and it was just sitting there going to waste,” Bud says. “We wanted to do something really neat with it … and hopefully bring value to the community and something unique to the area.”
The couple is putting all their energy and focus into the new store right now, but they hope to one day open another brick-and-mortar location in Jackson or Island Park, depending on its performance.
The White Sparrow Country Store is at 7875 S. 1800 W. about a mile west of Big Jud’s in Archer. It is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday with a 10 p.m. closing time Friday and Saturday.
Visit the store’s website or Instagram page for more information.
