Powell's City of Books is a bookstore in Portland, Oregon, located on the edge of Downtown and the Pearl District, with its main entrance at the corner of 10th and Burnside. Powell's is a huge bookstore; the store comprises an entire city block, and has multiple stories. Their store contains over 68,000 square feet ( 6,300 m2), offers for purchase over a million books, and has about 40,000 visitors per day.
Exterior of Powells
Powell's sells both used and new books. These are shelved together so that customers can consider both the used and new versions of each book.
The store was founded by Walter Powell, whose son, Michael Powell, had started a bookstore in Chicago, Illinois. Michael Powell soon joined his father in Portland, building the bookstore to what it is today.
Some of the store's actions have made big news in Portland. When the Oregon Citizens Alliance qualified Ballot Measure 9 in 1992, an anti-gay rights measure, the bookstore actively campaigned against the measure. However, a prolonged labor dispute between Powell's employees and Michael Powell over unionizing the employees tarnished Michael Powell's reputation as a champion of liberal causes.
In addition to City of Books location, Powell's Books also has several smaller stores: a technical bookstore a few blocks east of the main store, a general bookstore in Beaverton, another in Portland's Hawthorne area, a store with cooking and gardening materials two spaces east of the Hawethorne store, a travel bookstore located in Pioneer Courthouse Square, and a store at the Portland International Airport.
Much of Powell's business is now conducted online at its powells.com e-commerce site.
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