The best buys in Nashville are inevitably music-related and can be found in Music City. Difficult-to-get-hold-of CDs can be easier to find here, while some record stores are attractions in their own right. One such is Ernest Tubb's Record Shop No 1, 417 Broadway, founded by the ‘Texas Troubador'. It has an excellent stock of country music, with memorabilia as well as vinyl and CDs. Record Shop#2 is at Suite 110, 2416 Music Valley Drive. For a wider choice, the biggest record store in Nashville is Tower Records, 504 Opry Mills Drive. Nashville's mecca of hard-to-find vinyl and CDs is Grimey's Preloved Music, 1604 Eighth Avenue South. The main musical instrument store (one of the best in the USA) is Gruhn Guitars, 400 Broadway, and is worth a visit just to look at its vintage guitars.

Clothing goes hand-in-hand with country music and outrageous outfits can be bought at Trail West, 219 Broadway, and Manuel Exclusive Clothier, 1922 Broadway. For clothing and accessories that time has forgotten... or at least perhaps, should have forgotten, check out Flashback, 2204 Elliston Place, or Smack Clothing Co., 2201 Elliston Place. Unusual and distinctive music souvenirs are available for purchase at Hatch Show Print Shop, 316 Broadway, a working print shop that has many vintage as well as contemporary show posters for sale, along with postcards and photographs.

The best shopping malls are out of town. The biggest and newest is Opry Mills, 433 Opry Mills Drive, with 200 stores, restaurants, cafes and entertainment venues - including an IMAX theatre. Slightly smaller, with just under 200 stores and good for clothing in particular, is the Cool Springs Galleria, 1800 Galleria Boulevard, Franklin, off I-65. The main shopping mall on the north side of town is RiverGate Mall, with around 150 stores, located on 1000 Rivergate Parkway, Goodlettsville, just off I-65. The Mall at Green Hills is in the trendy Green Hills area, on 2126 Abbott Martin Road, and boasts some of the more unusual shops. A big factory outlet mall can be found in Lebanon, 30 minutes east of Nashville off I-40.

From mid June to October, the Nashville Food Fair takes place in several different locations, all on church grounds, on various days of the week. These open-air farmers markets, which began over 30 years ago, offer fresh, homegrown produce to the public.

The fourth weekend of every month, the Flea Market at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds draws huge crowds of up to 250,000 for the two-day bargain bonanza. Antiques, crafts, products old and new, are all available in both indoor and outdoor booths.

Nashville's Farmer's Market, open seven days a week, is the place to go for fresh produce and a tasty range of ethnic eating places. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, their Flea Market is open for business, offering great bargains of every description. Farmer's Market is located in large open-air pavilions at 900 Eighth Avenue North, in sight of the Capitol building.

There are several well-known antique districts in the Nashville area. Prime areas are Nashville's Eighth Avenue South, Franklin (south of town), Goodlettsville (on the north side), and Lebanon (30 minutes east of town).

Opening hours of retail stores tend to be Monday to Saturday 1000-1800 Downtown and Monday to Saturday 1000-2100 and Sunday 1300-1800 in the suburbs. In Nashville, the sales tax is 9.25%, which is non-refundable.