McKay's Chattanooga — Local services in Chattanooga

A Blast from the Past (and Some Things I Can't Quite Figure Out!)

Just rediscovered this fantastic bookstore, and it's like a treasure chest exploded! Years ago, it was strictly books. (Kinda like Amazon & eBay were, remember?!) Then, a few figurines added here and there, a an occasional PS2 and Xbox locked up securely, the last time I looked. Not now!

As a certified member of the "seen a few decades go by" club (I'll be 60 soon, bless my heart), walking into a place with actual LP records sent me right back to meandering the local malls of the ‘70s and ‘80s looking for Thriller, John Denver, and Jessie’s Girl! Found a few gems I haven't heard in ages – now I just need to dig out my old turntable from the attic! (Oh, yes, my brother said it was his at Christmas. Wonder if they have turntables, too??!)

Beyond the vinyl, the shelves are packed with books of every kind, which is always a win. I can never resist a few new-to-me books or the next Caldecott winner for my grand-love.

But then... the toys! There are bins overflowing with Legos – perfect for corrupting the grandkids or maybe rebuilding that spaceship my son had 17 years ago. And Star Wars figurines! Can’t wait to introduce my grandson to memories of a galaxy far, far away…

And journals, writing books, date books, all books, any books - and cool pens, too.

Now, the truly entertaining part for this old-timer was trying to figure out the rest of the "newfangled" stuff. Emoji figurines? Square faces?! I have no clue, but clearly someone does as there’s an entire aisle dedicated to these little plastic characters Made in China. There are gadgets and gizmos I don't recognize at all. It's like a foreign language of fun! Seriously though, this store is a delightful mix of nostalgia and... well, whatever the kids are into these days.

The staff was friendly and didn't seem to mind my slightly bewildered looks and awkward sifting through the book exchange process. I’ll be saving all of my McKay’s $$$ for a trip with my grandson to find a book for our next sleepover!

Whether you're looking for a classic read, a trip down musical memory lane, or just want to ponder the evolution of toys (and feel a little old while doing it), this place is definitely worth a visit. Need to clear out books you’re finally ready to let go of?! (I know…it’s hard. But you need to do it!) This is the place. Come on!

I'll be back, with McKay’s $$$ in one hand and my grandson in the other, who perhaps, can explain some of these action...

McKay's has been a staple in my life for literally decades. As a kid, my mom often brought me to the old location on Lee Hwy to get homeschooling books. As an adult, it's been a favorite hangout spot with friends, as well as a great source for cheap DVDs and used video games. Some of the employees have been around as long as I can remember, so they must be doing something right for the employees to stick around so long.

I knocked off one star because honestly, McKay's has gone downhill in recent years in two ways. First, their prices have gotten kind of crazy. I used to frequently find books for a dollar or two, but now I honestly don't even look at books most of the time because they often cost $10 or more, far more than I think is fair in a used bookstore. Sometimes I see books with a $12 price tag covering a $3 tag from some bargain store where you could buy the book brand new cheaper than here at this used bookstore. Secondly, McKay's has started accepting practically anything, including musical instruments, 3D printers, collectibles, Funko Pops, to the point where they're basically just a "general used stuff store" rather than a used bookstore. I think this shift has negatively impacted the store overall.

So while I still love this store and am happy to support them, I also can't give them a full 5 stars because they aren't the same five-star used bookstore they used to be.

To be clear, McKay's is still a great store and I recommend checking them out. Their bargain movie bin in particular is pretty awesome, you can often find DVDs or even Blu-rays of great movies for just a buck or two, and I'd rather buy a movie here than rent it from Redbox for the same price because if I like it then I own it, and if I don't like it I can just bring it back to McKay's with my next sell box. It's a great store, that unfortunately loses a star because it used to be greater. I wish they'd focus on being a reasonably priced used book/CD/movie store again, rather than a sometimes overpriced junk store. I don't want to end on a bad note though, and you definitely can find some treasures here so please check them out if you're...

I went to trade in some items- several books, several old game consoles like a Nintendo 3DS XL and a Nintendo DS XL with charger and games, a GameBoy SP, chargers, game boys, old Pokemon advance games, controllers, switch games…a ton of items and was offered $124. The lady tells me they “kept all electronics but can’t take some of the books, and the payout for cash is $124”. I was kinda dumbfounded because while I was waiting for my ticket number to be ready, I walked around the store and started getting excited because I saw that Pokemon Sapphire ALONE was selling there for $150 and was locked up behind a glass case, so here I am thinking that I am about to be walking out with a ton of money. GameBoy SPs selling for $115. Several things that I brought in were locked behind glass cases. So needless to say, I was super shocked when my payout amount was only $124 for everything that I brought in. I asked if I could see the amounts that each thing was taken for but she said that they don’t offer that information. So I asked for my things back of course. When she brings me my items back, I see that my Diablo 3 switch game had a McKays price tag on it for $54 that they had already placed on there, like they had already put price tags on my items and the markup value was insane. That’s basically half of what they were offering me for EVERYTHING. Anyways, long story short, I did a few things separately and kept my high dollar items. I couldn’t find any of this information online when I was seeing if it was a good place to bring my old Nintendo consoles and my game boy advance games so I just wanted to write this review for people to know. It’s not worth it at all. I will say that the girl helping me was extremely sweet and polite and understanding about everything, she’s only doing her job and she’s doing a really good job there. Thank you for being so kind and sweet in an awkward situation. But this place is not worth the drive, sell online because they will rip you off...