Nannie Mac’s recently announced that they will be open for later hours during finals week. Ever since Nannie Mac’s Coffee opened in February, their usual hours have been 6:30am to 7pm. However, from April 26 to April 29, the shop will stay open for an extra three hours.
Kye and Nannie McMullan, the owners of Nannie Mac’s, hope to give students a place to study or cram during finals week, offering coffee and free Wi-Fi to those who need it. As a Southern Miss alumni, Nannie understands the joy of being able to study at a quaint coffee shop.
“I remember when I was going to Southern that my places to study were the dorm and the library,” said Nannie, who lived in the Bolton and Hilton dorms back in 2014. “I didn’t have a car at the time and didn’t want to ride my bike across town just to study. Having a location so close to campus would have been nice for me. As an alumnus[,] I know I would have appreciated it back then.”
Nannie Mac’s also recently started selling their coffee beans by the pound in case students need a hit of coffee at home. They come in three different varieties — medium, dark roast and espresso — and can be ground up in store.
This is only the latest promotion Nannie Mac’s has offered this April. They are currently running $2 Milkshake Mondays and $2 Frappe Fridays specials every week, and are working on adding Wacky Wednesdays, where customers can choose between a $2 milkshake or frappe.
Nannie Mac’s is also working on expanding their menu to include lunch. They will be offering Nathan’s Famous hotdogs and chili and cheese nachos. When asked why they settled on those menu items, Kye explained that they wanted to offer different and fun food options.
“Initially we were presented with the idea of pizza, but no one around here really sells hotdogs,” Kye said. “A friend of mine, Dale Thompson, had mentioned serving hotdogs. Then, a few weeks later[,] someone else also wanted hotdogs. Whenever we got the second person to present the same idea, we thought that it was meant to be. It’s the way God speaks he sets you in line and gives you confirmation.”
Both of the McMullans are excited to open up their menu options once again, and make sure to always ask for feedback before implementing anything.
“We started asking our customers to see what they thought [about adding lunch],” Nannie said. “We received positive results.”
On top of all that, the McMullans are still expanding their business, working to open up the back of the coffee shop for events. While they are currently available for birthday parties and meetings, they want to offer daily entertainment as well, such as trivia/game nights, movie nights and bingo.
“No one really does bingo anymore,” Nannie said. “And a bonus to the games is that they will be inside for when it rains or is too hot outside.”
More than anything, Nannie Mac’s wants to offer the community new things to do on the tailend of COVID-19. Though the pandemic is still a problem, vaccines are getting distributed at a steady rate and numbers are slowly lowering. People are eager for things to do, and Nannie Mac’s wants to give the people what they want.
“[The] biggest thing [for us] is getting our name out there and having people to take some time out of their day to give us a try,” said Nannie.
So, what are you waiting for? Check out Nannie Mac’s on West Fourth Street, and be sure to follow them on Instagram @NannieMacsCoffee and on Facebook @Nannie Mac’s.
