Location
2267 Highway 70, Mebane NC, 27302
Hours
Mon-Sat 8:00am-5:00pm
Phone
(919) 568-8698
Website
fifthstreetbooks.com
E-mail
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/fifthstreetbooks
Payment Method
Cash Only
Wheelchair accessibility
Yes

Exposed beam book barn.

 

 

 

 

Entrance to the bookstore.

 

Fifth Street Books

Housed in a warehouse, Fifth Street Books in Mebane is the area's largest used book store. From the outside, off of Highway 70, the building appears to be a large storage unit, but inside a simply marked side door, visitors will find what owner and operator Jerry Mullis affectionately dubbs "Alamance County's biggest secret."

Bookstore Customers

Fifth Street Books primarily conducts its business online, but is also open to customers on site. As a wholesaler, the bookstore receives orders through platforms like e-bay or from established relationships with different institutions, such as the Elon University English department. Fifth Street Books has also worked closely with Elon students studying abroad in developing nations by sending books along with students in the program. Surprisingly, the warehouse's largest shipments are out to Minnesota, where they send over 1,000 books to be used in primary schools.

Organization

A team of twelve employees, many members of local families, keep the shelves relatively well organized by topic (nonfiction) or author (fiction), but expect to spend time browsing. Different sections of the store are sorted differently, but with the help of a staff member, customers can easily pick out books for different reading levels, books of different quality, or books of a particular genre. A massive children's section is well-stocked with everything from board books to young adult fiction. 25¢ Kids Scholastic Books are pre-boxed according to grade level and collections such as the Harry Potter books are packaged together.

"Fifth Street Books" sign as seen from the street.

Sales

All books are $0.99, and the store runs frequent sale events. From the third Thursday through Saturday each month, in-store purchases are only 25 cents.

Orders

Available for pick-up or delivery throughout the continental US via USPS media mail. For orders and inquiries email [email protected]. 

View from behind desk inside warehouse.

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