Nashville's McKay's used books and music store is going strong despite trends

With the closing of several of our area's most popular used bookstores, like Bookman/Bookwoman, Ms. B's and one of the Rhino Books locations, I wondered how the giant McKay's was faring.

And a trip out to the massive store, perched on a hill just off I-40 in Bellevue, convinced me that books are definitely not dead yet.

Andrea Jacobson, who heads the Nashville operation — McKay's also has similar stores in Chattanooga and Knoxville as well as a couple of smaller North Carolina stores — said early concerns that e-readers would be the death of traditional print books have been proven wrong.

"A couple of years ago, we kind of panicked. We were scared that the Kindles and Nooks would take over, but that has not been the case," she said. "Books are going up."

However, the mix of merchandise in McKay's has changed in the 11 years since it made its debut in Nashville. In the early years, the business was primarily to buy, sell and trade mostly books, along with CDs and DVDs, and a few vinyl records and gaming systems.

Nowadays, all of those categories are still represented, but there is a lot of growth in video games and systems and consoles like Xbox and Nintendo, as well as considerable growth in categories that they have added, like musical instruments and toys — including GI Joes, Barbies and Legos (you can fill a Ziplock bag of Legos for $3.95) — as well as board games and puzzles.

And yes they sell Kindles and Nooks now too.

"The whole place is about having what people want," Jacobson said. "So we keep trying different things."

To give you an idea of the volume of business, Jacobson said her 31,000-square-foot store does about 1,000 transactions a day, taking in 10,000 to 12,000 items most every day. That is almost double what the store was doing six years ago, when it moved from the initial spot on Charlotte Pike to the current built-to-suit store on Old Hickory Boulevard.

In terms of space in the store, books are still the biggest category and continue to see growth, but Jacobson says the electronic gaming systems (and accessories to go with them) and toys are moving up. They also sell a lot of DVDs and DVD players, and a variety of sizes of flat-screen TVs, too.

The store has a constant of flow of CDs and vinyl coming and going all day, every day.

"I bet we get 25,000 CDs in a month," Jacobson said, noting that most of the music is displayed on the mezzanine level of the store.

Ten or 11 years ago, McKay's would've had 100 or 200 vinyl records in stock. Now Jacobson says they carry 20,000 "at a minimum."

Prices range from 25-95 cents for vinyl, on up to as much as $30 for a pristine copy of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Check out the rock-bottom prices on the wall of bargain albums, as well as dozens of bargain vinyl bins that fill the space beneath the higher-end vinyl displays.

Buyers and sellers will find a lot to like at McKay's. If you are interested in shopping, you will find that the store is extremely well-organized, with the books displayed by category and then alphabetically within the category. The take-in team is also picky about what they accept, in all categories, so most of the merchandise is in great shape. Sellers will also be happy to be able to unload some excess merchandise and take home cash or good credit.

McKay's is a great place to stay cheap!

Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282 or mscheap@tennessean.com. Follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/mscheap, and at Tennessean.com/mscheap, and on Twitter @Ms_Cheap, and catch her every Thursday at 11 a.m. on WTVF-Channel 5’s “Talk of the Town.”

10 things buyers and sellers need to know about McKay's

Sellers can bring in as many as three bins of books and other items at a time for same-day service. McKay employees try to go through the bins and pay out within about an hour. If you have more product than that, McKay will also accept large orders (as in laundry carts full of books and other merchandise) and go through them as time allows and contact you when they have finished — although it could take as long as two weeks.

If you are selling, you have the option of receiving cash or store credit, and you get more for the store credit than for cash. The rule of thumb is that with credit, you would get about half of what McKay sells your item for, but with cash, you would only get about 30 percent.

Items that McKay does not generally take are VHS tapes, old encyclopedias, magazines, partial sets and most text books.

The store is open seven days a week. If you are selling, weekdays generally offer much quicker assessments than weekends.

Books are priced at 5 cents up to about half of their retail price. But most of the books are $1-$3. Pricing is determined by supply and demand as well as condition.

Children's books are a real value, with many at the $1-$3 price point.

The best deal of all is that they have "free" book bins outside the store, which are constantly being restocked with books that McKay rejects for one reason or another. I call it "diggers delight" and have almost always found something of interest there. Anyone can take anything they want. They may be rejects in one sense, but there is still plenty of good reading to be had from these bins.

Don't expect to be able to call the store and ask if they have a certain book — you have to come look for yourself. Because of the volume and quick turnover, store officials say they are unable to tell customers if they have a certain item in stock. They also do not offer waiting lists, or give price quotes over the internet or phone.

There is a return policy of 30 days for you to take something back, and customers may return up to 15 things a year, with receipt or McKay's barcode.

The store is located at 636 Old Hickory Blvd. Contact McKay's at 615-353-2595 or mckaybooks.com.

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