Great Escape to Relocate to Midtown

The owners of venerable used multimedia business The Great Escape have selected Midtown for their main Nashville location, with an early 2027 opening eyed.

With the move, the speciality retailer will end an 18-year run in West Nashville — marking a return to the part of the city in which the business got its start.

The relocation to the building last home to Williams Medical Supply is being dictated by a looming development at the current space at 5400 Charlotte Ave. in The Nations. Once home to a bowling alley, the space has accommodated the 1977-founded business — known for its robust inventory of used vinyl records, CDs, comic books, video games and DVDs — since 2008. The relocation will come as the business prepares to celebrate 50 years of operations in 2027.

Rob Baker, Great Escape co-owner, says he expects to have about 14 employees working from the future space. The address is 1501 Church St.

"The Great Escape is excited to return to the Midtown area as we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2027," Baker tells Scene sister publication the Nashville Post via email.

Local real estate company Elmington Capital Group in January 2022 paid $17 million for the retail strip center home to The Great Escape, among other businesses, and is seeking to reinvent the 7.4-acre site. Elmington officials could not be reached for comment, and it is unclear if the existing retail structure will be updated and supplemented by new construction or be razed so that the site can be fully redeveloped. As the Post reported in December 2025, a Sprouts Farmers Market seemingly is slated for the strip center.

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Founded in Midtown in 1977 by Gary Walker (who has since died) and Peggy Walker, The Great Escape is co-owned by Baker and wife Candace Baker, who acquired the business in 2017. Greg Walker, the Walkers’ son, has some ownership as well. The Great Escape also operates in Madison and Murfreesboro, as well as in Bowling Green and Louisville.

The current Great Escape relocated to its building in The Nations after the business lost its lease at its longtime Broadway location in Midtown. The Broadway location closed in 2010.

“We combined retail, warehouse, online operations and offices into one location at this huge former bowling alley,” Rob Baker told the Post in July. “We survived the 2010 flood when our store was flooded with three feet of water.”

As the Post reported earlier this year, family-owned business Melissa's Sir Pizza is seeking donations to assist its move from the retail strip center Elmington owns, with a future home not yet disclosed. A goal of $26,000 (originally $11,000) has been posted, with a GoFundMe page noting 67 participants have committed $5,124 (20 percent of the goal).

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.