Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Melodie Sedivy, Sunflower Mercantile of Barnes
At a glance: When the antique shop in her hometown of Barnes closed, Melodie and Nik Sedivy opened an antique store of their own in a historic downtown building. That inspired a celebration called the Barnes Antique and Junque Fest, which is now held annually.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Sunflower Mercantile of Barnes
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Oct. 7, 2026
Distribution of the weekly Kansas Profile column will end on October 21, due to writer Ron Wilson’s upcoming retirement from Kansas State University. The final column will post October 21. Thank you for your interest in Kansas Profile.
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
“What a find!”
That might be the expression of an antique store customer who locates a special, hard-to-find item in an antique store. Today we’ll meet a family that not only provides antiques, but also helps provide community spirit for their rural Kansas community.
Melodie and Nik Sedivy are owners of Sunflower Mercantile in Barnes. Melodie grew up in Barnes and went to college at Cloud County. She met and married Nik who is from Blue Rapids. They moved to Barnes where he operated a construction company. They have two daughters, both married.
Melodie worked for 44 years at the nearby Georgia Pacific plant, with her career culminating in her role in charge of purchasing. She also had a longtime interest in antiques.
“My parents had a love for antiques,” Sedivy said. “In high school, I started a glass collection.”
Later in her career, a stone building in downtown Barnes came up for sale. The Sedivys bought it and used it as a warehouse at first. Then the antique store across the street closed.
In 2013, the Sedivys opened their own antique store in their historic downtown building. The business is titled Sunflower Mercantile of Barnes. “We have a heck of a lot of fun, collecting things and meeting people,” Sedivy said.
Her husband Nik is the volunteer president of the Barnes Community Development Corporation. He has also worked on restorations of several historic buildings in the community.
For years, the Barnes community conducted a threshing bee, but the demands on volunteer time became too great.
“We got together and said, ‘what can we do that would be less work but still fun?’” Sedivy said. The group decided to put together a festival around antiques with multiple vendors.
A local hair salon operator proposed a tongue-in-cheek festival name: The Barnes Antique and Junque Fest. The name caught on.
“That first year it poured down rain, but we had people show up from as far away as Kansas City,” Sedivy said. “That showed us there was interest.”
Now the Barnes Antique and Junque Fest is held every year on the third Saturday of August. The antique store is open and vendors line both sides of the main street.
In 2026, Barnes also celebrated its 150th anniversary, so even more was added to the event. Historic memorabilia were posted at the firehouse, a quilt show took place at a church, food trucks and booths were on site, and games and inflatables were available for kids. Saturday night included a street dance and beer garden.
On Friday evening, a special parade was held featuring many vehicles, vintage and more. Cars, trucks, tractors and even a manure spreader were included.
The event is sponsored by the Barnes Community Development Corporation. It’s supported by the local Union State Bank and other businesses. “We’ve had wonderful support from that bank,” Sedivy said.
Across the street from Sunflower Mercantile is a former opera house that is being converted to a lodge.
Barnes puts on another event during the holidays. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the community holds a lighted horse parade with only horses and horse-drawn vehicles allowed. There is also an Always Christmas shop in Barnes, with Christmas-themed products available year-round.
“We’re not right next to a city. There has to be a reason for people to come here,” Sedivy said. “For the antique store, we work at having unique items that are competitively priced. Our events draw people from all over.”
She adds: “We want to remember our roots and bring people to Barnes.”
It’s great to find this community spirit in a rural community such as Barnes, population 165 people. Now, that’s rural.
For more information, go to www.barnesks.net or look for Sunflower Mercantile of Barnes on Facebook.
What a find! I might say that when I find just the right thing at an antique store such as Sunflower Mercantile. We commend Melodie and Nik Sedivy for making a difference with quality antiques and community spirit. That and more can be found at Barnes.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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