Sean Archer is bringing his hand-made wooden home goods, furniture and jewelry, as well as a variety of products from other local makers, to downtown Rochester.
Archer is opening a new shop on Oct. 7 under his Knotty Woodpecker brand in the lower level of the Riverview Building at 307 E. Center St.
That’s the building adjacent to the Center Street bridge that is best known as the former headquarters of the Rochester Honkers Baseball team.
The concept at the heart of his project is to bring locally made gifts and goods to Med City shoppers. Archer will have wooden products ranging from soap dishes to earrings to dough scrapers to furniture.
All of his work is done by hand, so Archer can feel what “the wood is doing” as he works with his vintage hand tools. Customers will be able watch him at work, as his studio is part of the shop.
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“I always want people to come see it for themselves. I want them to touch things, because the wood feels different," he said.
While the name is Knotty Woodpecker, the shelves will hold more than wood products.
On opening day, the shop will feature items by area makers like Rochester’s Jeb Taylor Knives, Keep Moving Clay and CHOOCHOO-ca-Chew as well as Winona-based Wenonah Body Lab soaps and skincare products.
Archer expects to have the store open Thursday through Saturday.
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