Archer’s Market, restaurant spaces in Norris up for rent
A recently posted real estate sign shows “Available” for the Norris Town Center building that previously housed Archer’s market and a succession of restaurants. The spaces are for rent, not for sale. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Archer’s, a Norris staple for more than four decades, abruptly closed without notice in late January 2024, and has been locked up and unoccupied since.
Customers approaching the store in downtown Norris on Tuesday, Jan. 30, were greeted with a sign taped on the front door that said, “Due to Renovations Archer’s will be closed until further notice. Please be patient with us during this time. Thank you!”
Since that time, there appears to have been no work done inside the store, although a new front façade to the building was constructed last year.
Last week, an “Available” sign was posted outside the building, listing Koella-RM Moore realty as the broker.
The listing on the broker’s website shows that the Archer’s space is for rent for $3,300 a month, and the restaurant space for $1,650 a month.
Lawyer Ameesh Kherani, one of the building’s owners, told The Courier News on Tuesday that he hopes to have a new tenant for the restaurant space soon, and that he has had at least one person express interest in opening another grocery store in the Archer’s space.
One of the listing agents, Jame Houghton, told The Courier News: “We’ve done some polls to see what people want in there, and a grocery store is what people seem to want most.”
The dental offices of Dr. Dan Startup, at the Archer’s end of the building, are not included in the listing, and remain open for business.
The Twisted Sisters bakery was in the restaurant space for a few weeks in 2022, having taken over the site from the Sweet Café, which shut down in April 2022. The space has been vacant since.
Before Archer’s closed in January 2024, there had been speculation in the community for several months that the downtown area’s only grocery store might not be open much longer, since it changed hands in February 2023 and then changed management again a few weeks later.
Customers had complained for months that stock in the store was not being replaced or renewed, and that often the dairy section was empty, and no fresh bread was available.
Near the end, customers had reported that there was no meat available in Archer’s meat department, which had long been a popular staple of the business.
Harry Patel, who bought the business from the family of the previous owner, Wayne Chaniott, appeared before the Norris City Council in its capacity as the Norris Beer Board in March 2023, and received a beer permit for the store.
But Patel has never returned phone calls from The Courier News made to the number he provided to the newspaper earlier.
The entire Town Center property, which also includes the Norris Post Office, was purchased in 2023 by Starpoint Development, LLC., which is owned by Ameesh Kherani and his brother, Eddie.
There were some suggestions last year, mostly on social media, of looking into setting up a nonprofit grocery co-op in the Archer’s space, but so far nothing has resulted from that idea.
As of now, the only place to buy any grocery items in downtown Norris is at the Norris Market, a gasoline/convenience store directly across West Norris Road from the post office.
That store does sell fresh milk among its limited stock, along with craft beer, but does not stock any bread products.
It did offer bread for a while last year, but the manager said that was discontinued because of lack of interest from customers.
Chaniott, who owned Archer’s for 40 years, retired and sold the business in 2023, and subsequently died of cancer. He bought Archer’s from the founder, George Archer. The store on the east end of the Norris Town Center complex at 27 W. Norris Rd.
Ameesh Kherani also owns the building on Andersonville Highway that houses the Appalachia Family Dentistry practice of his wife, Dr. Sonia Kherani. He has law offices in Knoxville and Jacksboro.
Starpoint LLC and the Kheranis had no connection with the most-recent Archer’s owner, other than leasing the building to him.
