Mr. K's Offers Books and Music at Discount Prices in Asheville, NC

With brick and mortar bookstores becoming more and more rare with the rise of sites like Amazon.com, which also features sales from individual sellers and small shops, it's difficult to see how any major bookstore can stay in the bookselling business without also featuring coffee and gifts. In this economy, even sales online and discount membership programs for Barnes and Noble and Books a Million can deter a shopper from picking up a few paperbacks. Christmas is quickly approaching, and even buying one book for a book lover on your holiday list might affect your entire winter budget. With these factors, it's easy to see how a store like Mr. K's Used Books, Music & More in Asheville, North Carolina can benefit shoppers of all tastes and budget.

Mr. K's is nestled in the River Ridge Shopping Center in Asheville off North Roan Street behind a Sonic and KFC restaurant, and the shop title explains it all: used books, movies, and more. What makes Mr. K's stand out from other used music and book stores is that once you walk inside and see the original artwork and vast collection of books and CDs (as well as more than a few records), you know that it's unlikely that you won't find something that will appeal to you or a friend.

While all used (and new) bookstores have their selections from famous names, such as Stephen King, James Patterson, and Sue Grafton, they also have items that you might only find online, and for twice the price. A collection of drawings for Sean Lennon by his father John was priced at fifty cents, and I found a collection of short stories titled The Seven Deadly Sins Sampler for three dollars. My fiance was unsure that he'd find any Dungeons and Dragons books, but he saw about five volumes of the first few editions of the role-playing game.

The books in Mr. K's are seperated by theme and topic, with easy to read maps all over the store to assist with browsing. Romance, horror, and nonfiction all had their own labelled sections with a variety of choices. The humor section held various titles by Dave Barry and Erma Bombeck, but also has Beavis and Butthead's book from back when they burst onto the scene in the nineties. All the books were in good or excellent condition, with most of them looking brand new. Music CDs are also categorized and seperated by genre, with a huge selection of pop/rock and country, along with rap, classical, and soundtracks. My only disappointment with the store was that it didn't have more comedy CD choices, but again, they offer what is traded in.

According to their policy guide¹, they offer "funny money" for items traded in, with different colored money representing what could be purchased with that kind of funny money. For example, trading in books or audio books will get a trader purple funny money, which can be spent on other used books or audio books, and pink money is given to someone trading in CDs or video games. The webpage also explains that the store does also offer cash for trades, stating, "You will receive 20% of our estimated selling price on fiction pocketbooks and 30% of our estimated selling price on non-fiction,"¹ and if the store does not think it can be sold, the trader can opt to put it in a "free box" for other such items.

Along with selling quality used books, music, and movies, Mr. K's is also active in charity. On the website for Develop Africa, a page devoted to thanking the store for donating children's books to a school in Sierra Leone features a picture of children holding up a sign thanking the store.²

Right now, Mr. K's only store in North Carolina is the one in Asheville, and according to the store's website (http://www.mrksonline.com), they have two locations in Tennessee in Oak Ridge and Johnson City. The website features pictures of the Johnson City Store, which has two floors and features the music on the second floor.

1 - "Mr. K's Offers Books and Music - Mr. K's Policy Guide" (http://www.mrksonline.com/policies.php)

2 - Developafrica.org "Extending Children's Books to Africa" (http://www.developafrica.org/Mr_ks_passion_in_action)