By DEB GRUVER

Staff writer

As his dad and a friend looked for old mowers Saturday at Barely Makin’ It Antiques, 5-year-old Cashton Spaich pored over a box of free toys.

“He can have two or three,” co-owner Dennis Maggard said as Cashton seemed to be having trouble choosing just one toy.

Levi Spaich and Ryan Reau drove to Marion from Windom to look at antiques, especially machinery and implements.

“It’s a great little pastime,” Reau said. “I’d rather come look at this than sit in a bar.”

Barely Makin’ It, located at an old alfalfa mill north of Marion on Walnut St., started in 1994 when the owners bought out a house full of antiques, Maggard said.

He and business partner Marion Ogden go out picking regularly. Their store has been featured on the History Channel’s “American Pickers” show.

“They were here about a year after they started,” Maggard said.

Barely Makin’ It sees a lot of out-of-state buyers and dealers, he said. Maggard and Ogden used to have a second store in downtown Marion but closed that shop a few years ago.

The remaining store sells “just a little bit of everything,” Maggard said. “We’ve gotten away from smaller items. Now it’s mainly furniture, chippy paint, and rust.”

The shop features three buildings to peruse.

“People can go into all of them,” Maggard said.

Metal items are stored outside on three acres.

“We’re also looking for architectural salvage,” Maggard said. “That always sells really fast. It’s really popular right now.”

Although Barely Makin’ It gets a lot of repeat customers, “we will get new people all the time,” including interior designers, Maggard said.

Barely Makin’ It is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment.

TC’s What Not Shop

TC’s What Not Shop at 901 E. Main St. in Marion features antiques, vintage items, and arts and crafts. About 20 vendors — mostly local residents — have booths at the shop, which is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Whitney Douglas has operated a booth there for about two years.

“I was just an avid shopper before I decided to have a booth,” she said.

The store, known for its bright green exterior and metal Bigfoot figurines adorning the outside, gets a lot of repeat customers, Douglas said.

Copper Shed

Copper Shed at 1832 140th St. — southwest of downtown Marion near Aulne — has been open since the ’70s.

Ern and Lucille Hett started it.

“Dad was a farmer, and he liked to create things,” said Julie Hett Nelson, who now runs Copper Shed. “It was a hobby that grew into a business.”

Nelson has operated the shop, which sells antiques, vintage items, and metal sculptures, for 26 years.

Copper Shed started out mostly with copper and brass sculptures of wheat, sunflowers and windmills. Its “made in Kansas” items attract people from all over, she said.

“We expanded into vintage items and antiques sprinkled throughout the shop,” Nelson said.

Sometimes she repurposes items to make new creations.

Copper Shed offers two buildings of antiques and arts and crafts. One is its workshop.

The store is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and by appointment.

Other shops

There also are a few thrift shops in the area where savvy shoppers can score antiques and vintage items.

St. Luke Hospital Auxiliary Shoppe at 321 E. Main St. in Marion is open noon to 5 p.m. Fridays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

The Et Cetera Shop at 109 N. Main St. in Hillsboro is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays.