Powell’s City of Books

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This post is for Dan Antion‘s Thursday Doors. To see more doors, visit Dan’s blog here.

My daughter took Hubby and me to Powell’s City of Books years ago. The pouring rain didn’t let us take good photos. The place had many rooms, and I didn’t know where to go and what to look for. I bought a used book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel, by Jamie Ford. He was a featured speaker at our Beaverton City Library last year. I found out that he lives in Seattle, Washington. He is the great grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated from Hoiping, China, to San Francisco in 1865, where he adopted the western name “Ford.”

Last week, after my doctor’s appointment in the area, I had half an hour before my next task. I drove up and parked a block away to take a few photos of Powell’s building. The map from the front desk helped me navigate the rooms.

Powell’s City of Books, located in downtown Portland’s Pearl District, is America’s largest independent bookstore of new and used books in the world. Its 68,000-square-foot building spans an entire city block and houses a collection of one million books, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles. 

Liz Gauffreau just let me know that she searched on the Powell’s website and found all three of her books and one of my books are available in paperback at their store – Liz’s books: Simple Pleasures: Haiku from the Place Just Right, Grief Songs: Poems of of Love and Remembrance, Telling Sonny, and my book: Songs of Heartstrinbgs: Poems of Gratitude and Beatitude. Wow! They do have an amazing collection of books.

Powell’s City of Books occupies the entire block. The front door is at this corner where the two signs meet.
This section is half of the building.
The front door

Powell’s is the perfect place to get lost. Whether you interpret that as lost in time as you find yourself walking down endless aisles with infinite titles or are just literally lost. You wouldn’t be the first person to panic due to not being able to find your way out.

Thankfully, the navigating and mapping system works wonders. Powell’s has three floors, nine color-coded rooms and over 3,500 different sections.

Store Map

The first floor is for the bestsellers in nonfiction and fiction. The second floor contains nonfiction of all kinds — from history to cultural studies to spirituality to travel. Lastly, the top floor houses art and architecture books, the Basil Hallward art gallery, and the Rare Book Room.

The bookstore hosts author talks and other literary events. It has a coffee shop and sells houseware, games, and greeting cards.

Stairs or elevator? I took the stairs.
Door ahead – to Purple Room and Coffee Room with clothing items. Door on left to Blue, Green, and Pink rooms
Door to Gold Room
Left door to Green room, right door to Cashiers
Plenty of “staff pick” books with brief comments.
This staff commented on the book Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970
Rare Book Room
Rare Book Room – need a pass to enter.

A Brief History

Walter Powell founded Powell’s in 1971. His son, Michael Powell, had started a bookstore in Chicago, Illinois, in 1970 which specialized in used, rare, and discounted books. In 1979, Michael Powell joined his father in Portland, right after his father’s store was not offered a lease renewal; within a year, they found the location that became its current headquarters.Michael bought the bookstore from his father in 1982. Emily Powell is the current owner and president of Powell’s Books. She took over the family-owned business from her father, Michael Powell, in 2010. 

Point of Interest

In 2002, Powell’s was cited by USA Today as one of America’s 10 best bookstores.

In 2016, CNN rated it one of the “coolest” bookstores in the world.

Powell’s City of Books is among the top things to do in Portland, Oregon.

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Thursday Doors – Powell’s City of Books

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Thursday

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