Hello! I’m Ben Coffey, founder, owner, and operator of The Ark Antiques and Flea Market in McPherson, KS. We opened in 2020, but I have been buying, selling, creating events, and negotiating since I was a kid.
At The Ark, we value creativity, curiosity, exploration, and quick action. It has helped us build statewide events, bringing thousands of out-of-state shoppers to benefit local small businesses, a project for which we’re quite passionate.
We just finished our 2nd Annual HWY 56 Sales Scramble, bringing tens of thousands of shoppers from across the Midwest to shop at garage sales and businesses along 200 miles of HWY 56.
ThriftFest, another of our favorite events, has brought in thousands of paid ticket holders and vendors. We’re gearing up for our next Thriftfest for September.
We are committed to continuing to run these events and innovate as we go.
Tonight, I bring to you news of our next adventure. A scrappy, artistic entrepreneur named Becki Garcia started an outdoor-based vendor sales event in the fall of 2010 called the Kansas Barn Sale. Becki and an assistant ran the show, hosting this event in different small towns over the years. She announced her retirement in 2026, and The Ark and Becki finalized an agreement to buy the KS Barn Sale. The KS Barn Sale is a one-of-a-kind event for the Midwest: a show featuring only antique and handmade goods. Vendors go through an approval and vetting process to ensure the “atmosphere” of the sale stays true to its origin: antiques, vintage, and handmade items. We avoid overfeatured categories such as 3D printing, tumblers, or wholesale items.
We will continue Becki’s creation and legacy by hosting the next KS Barn Sale on the first Saturday in October, which will be Oct. 3 this year.
We are making a few slight changes–the first being in location. We will host it inside the McPherson Community Building. We recognize that it will give a different atmosphere and that we will sell out of vendor space very quickly. We are working with the city to shut down surrounding streets to give us more space to spread out and allow for more vendor space and to add to the outdoor atmosphere that some vendors’ merchandise is perfect for.
Be sure to watch our social media–both from The Ark and from the current KS Barn Sale Facebook page–for more details. A press release and newsletter will drop tomorrow, and a Facebook event will drop this evening so you can be sure not to miss anything. Future posts about the KS Barn Sale will come from that specific Facebook page, so be sure you are following and have liked that page. Our website is www.ksbarnsale.com has now gone live.
Our goal is to sell 4,000 tickets, which can be purchased online now at https://www.ksbarnsale.com/buy-tickets. Tickets are $5 online and $7 at the door. A lucky 100 customers can purchase VIP tickets for $10, getting them in the doors to shop one hour before we open to the public. More information about the sale is available online and will also be released on our many advertising channels over the next 157 days.
If you want to follow our progress and stay involved, and you are NOT already on our mailing list, please send an email with your first and last name, and the town you’re located in to [email protected]. We will post that reminder along with our email address in the comments, too. You can also send that information as a PM on this Facebook page. One of the best things you can do is mark that you are “attending” on the Facebook event–a lot of our information will be shared through that event on the KS Barn Sale’s Facebook.
Ticket pricing, vendor pricing, an FAQ, and photos are all available at our brand-new website, www.ksbarnsale.com.
We look forward to having you join us on this adventure at the greatest antique and artisan sale in the Midwest.
At this time, we’ll open the floor for any questions.
