This week’s Spotlight on Bookstores is written by Jill at Fizzy Thoughts. If she’s not one of your regular blog stops, she should be! Lots of great reviews, other bookish chat, fun ramblings about roaming the globe, and did I mention she has a book giveaway each Friday?! Jill says “My favorite things are books and travel. So that is what I mostly write about. ” Jill will be going to Book Group Expo later in the month; I can’t wait to read about that fun! Today she shares the secret of her clandestine love affair with Powell’s City of Books:
Powell’s City of Books
1005 W Burnside
Portland, OR 97209 USA
COEME LIBRUM: Buy the Book
LEGE LIBRUM: Read the Book
CARPE LIBRUM: Enjoy the Book
VENDE LIBRUM: Sell the Book
I have long had a crush on Powell’s Books, although I can’t even remember when we met. Somehow, I stumbled on their online presence and signed up for PowellsBooks.news and the Daily Dose. And then their blog. Just like with in-person bookstores, I’ve spent hours wandering through the online stacks, reading staff recommendations and author interviews. Powell’s is an independent bookstore, and for someone who lives an area dominated by Barnes & Noble and Borders, it is the Mecca of bookstores.
Three years ago, I had a chance to visit the mother ship. Yes, that’s what they call the main Powell’s location, located in downtown Portland, Oregon. It’s also known as Powell’s City of Books. Every year, my boyfriend’s family holds its annual reunion in Sunriver, Oregon. Since my college roommate now lives in Portland, I decided to escape the reunion for 2 days and drive to Portland to see her. And Powell’s. Because my family doesn’t quite appreciate my fascination with books, I played up the visit to the roommate and glossed over the trip to Powell’s. However, guess which one I visited first?
Finding Powell’s was not easy. I drove back and forth (and back and forth and back and forth) over the river trying to find my exit. Finally, I just chose an exit, drove around in circles for a while longer, and then finally found Powell’s. Next time (and yes, there will be a next time) I’ll plan ahead with the directions so as not to waste valuable bookstore time with getting lost.
Powell’s is one ginormous bookstore. Seriously. It takes up a whole city block. And they hand out maps to guide you through the store…is that not the coolest thing?
Here are some facts about the store from the website:
- 68,000 square feet packed with books
- we buy 3,000 used books over the counter every day
- approximately 3,000 people walk in and buy something every day
- another 3,000 people just browse and drink coffee
- our parking garage provides space for 40 cars (ok, so there are bigger parking garages)
- we stock 122 major subject areas and more than 3,500 subsections
- you’ll find more than 1,000,000 volumes on our shelves
- approximately 80,000 book lovers browse the City’s shelves every day, in Portland and via the Internet. So is our mother ship the world’s largest bookstore? Heck, it may be bigger than your whole town.
One of the things I really love about Powell’s (besides their sense of humor) is the mingling of new and used books. They shelve all books together, which means they have the most incredible inventory. They even buy used books online. Of course, they don’t pay much, but they do pay for the shipping and offer store credit. Since most of our local used bookstores have gone out of business, this is one of my favorite features of the online site.
Because I had spent so much time driving back and forth over the river (aka getting lost), and because I did not realize the enormity of this store, my time at the in-person Powell’s was limited. I spent an hour racing through the store and drooling over books, mostly in the travel and fiction sections. Yet I still left with an armful of books. Good thing I had my car.
I dream of a return trip to Powell’s. I’d love to spend an entire day in the store. Heck, I’d love to spend an entire day in the red room (travel section). And then another day in the blue room (literature). Unfortunately, Sunriver is hours from Portland, so I can’t just pop over every time we visit Oregon. I’m thinking I need take my own, non-reunion, vacation to Oregon. Maybe I could stay here? Doesn’t that sound lovely?