“A Non-Fat Latte with a Drizzle of Social Consciousness, Please”: Purchasing More than Books at Powell’s

A collaboration between MaryKate, Rebekah, Cory, and Shawn.


Your in-flight entertainment was staring over the pages of your unread novel as parents tried to wrangle their children. You’re pretty sure your knees are bruised from the overzealous reclining of the passenger in front of you. Still, as you make your way through Portland International Airport (PDX, as the locals say), you are brimming with excitement. Maybe you’ve watched too many episodes of Portlandia, but you can’t help but feel as though you’ve arrived in a place that embraces everything different and “weird,” not to be awarded the titles of “World’s Best Street Food,” but—

Wait. Is that a used bookstore? In an airport? And is that customer selling their book? Well, that’s certainly something new. You haven’t even entered the city, but Powell’s Books has already snared you, and you have only seen the smallest of their locations. Buckle up. You’re in for quite the ride.

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A thirty-minute car ride across the Willamette River (or a slightly longer train ride if you want to dive into Portland’s culture of sustainability right away) will land you in the Pearl District. The district takes up a relatively small portion of northwest Portland, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in a multitude of globally conscious businesses that allow consumers to participate in and learn about cultures outside of their own. Admittedly, the Pearl District is not particularly diverse with regard to demographics; Portland as a whole is consistently ranked one of the country’s whitest cities. In 2010, for example, the Pearl District had a population of approximately 5,997 people, but an overwhelming 84.9% identified as only White, while only 7.6% identified as Asian, 3.9% as Latino/a/x, and 2.4% as Black or African-American. However, though the vanilla flavor of the district continues to dominate, there is hardly a stereotypical W.A.S.P. to be found. True, the Pearl District is home to mostly professional men and women in their mid-thirties, but while a cultural competency test is not required to move into one of America’s “hippest hipster neighborhoods,” the district certainly encourages a passion for difference outside the walls of their office jobs.

Everywhere you look, there are clusters of international restaurants, boutiques selling global fashions, galleries, and theaters reminding you that as much as we all love Starbucks, there are other options. Even if you decide Lebanese food isn’t your style, or you prefer the work of local artists displayed in cafés to an international artist featured in one of the museums, you at least become aware of their existence. Tim Cresswell’s “Defining Place” characterizes a place as a space that inspires “the human capacity to produce and consume meaning” (7), and the Pearl District as a whole interestingly bridges the gap between the immediate place (Portland) and far-off places that offer bits of the unknown. Certainly, it can be argued from a more cynical point of view that the citizens of the Pearl District are performing elements of different cultures or passively noting them, rather than engaging with them; instead of producing any real meaning, the consumers are merely enjoying the aesthetics of difference. However, even if this is sometimes the case, an interest in learning about the unfamiliar is particularly relevant when considering the area’s sole bookstore: Powell’s City of Books. While you can easily move on when your Polynesian meal is over, if you buy a book about Polynesian culture, the engagement with ideas and knowledge continues long after you’ve finished your lau lau.

However, the area was not always a center for meaningful cultural experimentation. Before earning the pearly moniker, the district was known as the “Northwest Triangle” and largely centered on the rail lines until an economic shift introduced warehouses, breweries, and shipping facilities. As each industry moved into the suburbs over time, the abandoned buildings became cheap lodgings for the starving artist population, though there was still little inkling that there was a creative hub waiting to burst from miles of deserted factories, construction equipment, and tiny businesses struggling as they butted up against what many considered an industrial wasteland. Despite the reputation, this is where Powell’s Books chose to put down its Portland roots long before you would have seen another smaller Powell’s comforting weary travelers in Portland’s airport.

Michael Powell was a University of Chicago graduate student with a knack for consignment when he opened the Chicago bookstore that started it all in 1970. His father, Walter, came in the summer of 1971 to help with the rapidly growing used bookstore, and by the time he returned to Oregon, he too had been bitten by the bookselling bug. Walter was drawn to the section of Portland that had long been a spot for artists and small business owners to find inexpensive spaces to work and live. In 1979, Michael accepted Walter’s invitation to return home and work with him, and after a forced relocation, their flagship store moved into a former car dealership. Walter bought every used book that passed through, but it was his decision to include new, out-of-print, and rare books that paved the way for Powell’s to become a recognizable brand and a cultural icon.

Just as the Pearl District struggled to define itself after its identity shifted, Walter and Michael Powell sought to carve out a unique image. Michael was dubious of shelving the new and used books next to each other at first, but the mixture proved a successful business strategy. Not only did rake in profits, but it offered a way to connect to the developing community, and thus to settle into the district and reach out to their customers in ways other than across the counter. Providing readers with the largest selection of material possible attracted customers who wanted to avoid making multiple stops for used and new, but more importantly, it offered those readers the opportunity to explore topics and authors unavailable in stores focused on bestsellers. All books were accepted at Powell’s, and all readers were welcome. The state spent extravagantly to rebuild and revitalize the Pearl District, but Powell’s was hardly touched. This illustrated that not only could independent bookstores survive, but a passion for sharing knowledge is an integral force in the development of a community. Ownership has most recently transferred to Michael’s daughter, Emily, and the chain has spread across Portland and the nearby suburb of Beaverton, as well as to the Internet, but the business’ devotion to inclusiveness has not changed. It was not until 1999 that the Pillar of Books was introduced, but the dedication to the phrase, “Coeme Librum (Buy the Book), Lege Librum (Read the Book), Carpe Librum (Enjoy the Book), Vende Librum (Sell the Book)” has been clear since day one.

There are currently five physical Powell’s Books locations, though Powell’s City of Books remains the crown jewel. As you approach W. Burnside Street and 10th Avenue, you realize that it takes up an entire city block. In a way, it is really the novelty of the store is what draws you in for the first time. After all, how often is it that you come across a bookstore that occupies 68,000 square feet of space, contains over 1,000,000 books, and still retains the cool, almost hipster feel of an independent bookstore despite its own magnitude? You’ve been waiting for this moment since you caught a glimpse of the sign in the airport. Are you ready?

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The store has two entrances, occupying opposite corners of the block. The more prominent is the W. Burnside Street entrance to the Green Room, featuring the store’s iconic red and white sign advertising everything from children’s story hours to book signings, while the other leads into the Orange Room from 11th Avenue. Of the nine rooms, the Green and Orange rooms contain the only registers, meaning you have to continue walking in order to see and purchase more options. A reader familiar with the myth of the labyrinth may be wary of embarking on their journey, but fear not; there is no Minotaur lurking amongst the twelve-foot high shelves. You will be the one devouring knowledge today (and perhaps a snack in the Coffee Room), and while the adventure may feel perilous at times as you cross paths with hoards of other readers and shelves of authors you hadn’t heard of until today, Powell’s ensures this experience is fun, rather than stressful. There is no rush. The store maps posted are not there to force you into the next room once you’ve hit your time allowance, but to help guide you to the topics you know and remind you of all those genres you may not know. The notes left on the shelves from previous readers encourage you to keep exploring and investigating new texts, even if you are outside of your literary comfort zone.

Whether you are interested in bestsellers (Green), poetry (Blue), westerns (Gold), graphic novels (Coffee), children’s books (Rose), philosophy (Purple), travel (Red), interior design (Pearl), gardening (Orange), Powell’s has something to offer you. Take a look at the floor plan below to get a clearer idea of what Powell’s City of Books stocks:

With its rows of plain pine shelves towering over a cement floor, the store retains the industrial feel of the Pearl District, while the seemingly endless diverse volumes on the shelves serve as yet another example of the area’s devotion to cultivating globally and socially conscious citizens. Even the recent renovations have only enhanced the distinctive Powell’s experience. The Green and Blue rooms, for example, received facelifts that addressed leaking roofs and poor lighting, but the construction exposed elements of the previous car dealership that have since been incorporated as reminders of where the district began and what it has become. New rainbow carpeting has also been installed in the Rose Room, but the only room to completely break the “warehouse plus knowledge” pattern is the Rare Book Room on the third floor with its dark wood, comfy seating, and dizzying price tags. Despite its private library feel, even here customers are invited to relax and peruse the books for as long as they please. Michael Powell feels that, “Barnes & Noble’s message is ‘Buy the book and get the hell out of here’ in some subliminal way.” When it comes to Powell’s City of Books, though, the novelty and the “coolness” factor that land the bookstore on so many Top 10 lists draws you in, but the dedication to making you feel welcome is what keeps you there. There are only a few chairs scattered in the more or less shabby rooms, but the community of readers and knowledgeable staff that fill the massive place encourage you to keep exploring, even if you have to take a break for a day and come back.

What matters most, though, is not the ambiance, but the books themselves. For Bruno Latour in “Why Has Critique Run Out of Steam?” a thing is both “an object out there” and “an issue very much in there” (2288), and Powell’s treats their books not only as products to stock and sell, but as entertainers, teachers, movers and shakers. For Powell’s, “literature” is not limited to Sophocles and Chaucer. Certainly, the Blue Room is the most traditionally “literary,” and it is an early stop. Perhaps this is by design. Maybe they renovated the Green and Blue rooms because they only care about sending the award-winners and classics out the doors. Maybe they want to make sure you have the opportunity to look over their proper selection before you sully your brain with the erotica. Maybe the hipster, socially conscious vibe is all a ruse to draw in traffic masking the lack of genuine interest in the customers’ experiences. However, while these perspectives may reflect the business angle or the traditionally elitist conception of the bookstore, they do no match up with the Powell’s vision.

Rather, Powell’s seems to understands the wants and needs of their customers, and they are able to make business decisions that both keep the store afloat and guarantee that the consumers who choose to engage with them have meaningful experiences. While the citizens on the Pearl District may be more culturally aware than others, they may still walk into Powell’s with preconceived ideas about what qualifies as “literature” or what a “bookstore” is supposed to look like. In The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop, Lewis Buzbee notes, “the bookstore has continually found itself a stronghold of the rights of free expression,” offering wide selections, even at the expense of others’ disdain (148). By offering traditional section titles but including a diverse range that may be ignored by other stores, Powell’s pushes customers outside of their preconceptions. The “traditional” literature section is easy to find for those so inclined, but the first listing on Powells.com is not for Mansfield Park, but for My Jane Austen Summer: A Season in Mansfield Park. Popular fiction is treated with the same value and lack of judgment as self-help manuals, cat picture books, and poetry collections. Even the volumes kept in the Rare Book Room are not locked away for those with enough disposable income to purchase them; all are welcome to pore over them. All that Powell’s asks is that they be examined with care, hence their placement away from the sticky-handed children.

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Walking through the maze can easily become an all-day affair, but if you begin to feel overwhelmed by your haphazard navigation, remember that there is a method to the (seeming) madness. Powell’s Books as a brand is one concerned with social responsibility. In Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption, Laura J. Miller observes, “consumption is inextricably political in that it can be related to the common good and has implications for the gains and losses faced by particular groups” (228), and Michael and Emily Powell have openly emphasized their devotion to youth literacy, literary awareness, and curtailing censorship. Even if their customers do not directly participate in those causes, supporting such a powerful and vocal business ties them to social progress. The Powell family never seems to tire of emphasizing that a well-informed community is necessary, and no one is an exception to this rule, including children. Some of the books chosen for this month’s “Kids’ Storytime” events include Karl Edwards’ Fly! which encourages toddlers to be true to themselves and persevere, and Tracey Corderoy’s Why? which encourages young children to ask questions. Even if they are not tall enough yet to access every book available in the color-coded rooms, the power that Powell’s customers have to learn and engage with the wider community is never forgotten.

The citizen-consumer is responsible and educated, and being aware of the plethora of stories at their fingertips assists in the efforts of trading ignorance for awareness. Powell’s appeal to the citizen-consumer is evident in the layout of their flagship store. Customers must walk through areas of the store that may not have their genre of choice in order to get to the rooms that may appeal to them more. Though there is no one correct path to take, Powell’s City of Books has integrated a sort of “ebb and flow” to their store that is exacerbated by the swelling waves of customers moving from room to room. Customers are encouraged to take advantage of their time in the maze by looking into topics that they may not have known existed; just as they may discover that Mediterranean cuisine is not to their liking outside of Powell’s walls, they at least have the opportunity to become culturally aware by perusing new subjects.

By offering a wide range of options in their City of Books and on their website, Powell’s not only expands the definition of literature, but also emphasizes that no population is excluded. Their stock, events, and social programming reach out to communities in Portland and the world at large (international shipping is only $7.00!) and invite them to become part of one, big Powell’s community. Is it cheesy? Perhaps, but the amount of people carrying Powell’s Books water bottles, subscribing to Indiespensible, or grabbing their morning coffee while surrounded by literature is quite the indicator of this independent bookstore’s power over the community. You can “Keep Portland Weird” with your mismatched Powell’s Books socks while also supporting interest in the perspectives of others. Powell’s offers the whole appealing package that comes when so many of us envision a welcoming place to engage with literature. They have the books, the coffee, the warm socks, and the excitable community to discuss ideas with after finishing the last page. Powell’s stages the store in a way to draw in customers who may be wary of the “warehouse bookstore” experience if they have not been to Powell’s City of Books, but once inside, you are never given the chance to forget that the main product is still a book – an object full of meaning and power not restricted to the pages.

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In Archibald MacLeish’s A Free Man’s Books: An Address, MacLeish questions whether booksellers “ascribe as great an influence to the books we write and publish and sell and catalogue and teach” as we hope to (7). In the case of Powell’s Books, it seems that everyone involved in the process has come to realize the value of books. From Walter, who chose to ignore the traditional divisions between new and used; to Michael and Emily, who moved Powell’s into the future and into the community; to the store clerks who are eager to share their favorite works and genres without ever passing judgment; to the tourists who travel miles to experience “the City”; to the regulars who view Powell’s as a mixture of icon and second home, everyone participates in creating the Powell’s experience. Though Powell’s Books as a business makes calculated decisions that help the brand remain relevant, the Powell’s experience is one of collaboration. Every leader has a follower, and Powell’s Books has proven adept at molding followers who then become socially aware community leaders themselves.

Sources

Images:
Baby Perusing Books. <http://iconosquare.com/p/972709022740379151_6119220>
Blue Room Aisles. <http://iconosquare.com/p/960241511317205328_15672395>
Girl Reading in an Alley. <http://iconosquare.com/p/965614145046389290_416786351>
Green Room Bestsellers. Original photography by Erin Pratt.
Is Coffee Part of Your Daily Grind? <http://iconosquare.com/p/963512580060696435_219142258>
Powell’s Books Mug. <http://iconosquare.com/p/961984139965225156_301663061>
Powell’s Storefront. <http://iconosquare.com/p/963512580060696435_219142258>
Smellbound interior photo. Original photography by Erin Pratt.

Media:
“Powell’s Books.” Dipity. 2015. <http://www.dipity.com/cory_brugger/Powells-Books/>
“Powell’s City of Books.” GoogleMaps. 2015. <https://www.google.com/maps/@45.522979,-122.681163,3a,75y,322.41h,80.85t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s5NkuMcbDEc59Xj8vUGat5A!2e0?hl=en-US>
“Powell’s City of Books.” ThingLink. 2015. <https://www.thinglink.com/scene/649584543933661184>

Text:
Buzbee, Lewis. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: A Memoir, a History. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2006.
Cresswell, Tim. “Defining Place.” Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. 1-14.
Latour, Bruno. “Why Has Critique Run out of Steam?” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed: Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 2282-2302.
MacLeish, Archibald. A Free Man’s Books: An Address. New York: The Peter Pauper Press, 1942. 5-17.
Miller, Laura J. “Pursuing the Citizen Consumer.” Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. 197-229.

Websites:
“About Pearl District.” Pearl District Neighborhood Association. 2015. <http://www.pearldistrict.org/about-the-pearl-district/>
Chamberlin, Jeremiah. “Inside Indie Bookstores: Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon.” Poets & Writers. March 2010. http://www.pw.org/content/inside_indie_bookstores_powell_s_books_in_portland_oregon
City Data, Pearl District Neighborhood, Portland, Oregon. <http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Pearl-Portland-OR.html>
“History of Powell’s Books.” Powells.com. http://www.powells.com/info/briefhistory.html
“History of the Pearl District.” Explore the Pearl. 2014. <http://explorethepearl.com/about-the-pearl/history-of-the-pearl-district/>
“Powell’s City of Books (Portland).” LibraryThing. https://www.librarything.com/venue/3811/Powells-City-of-Books-Portland-
Smith, David Hale. “Return of the Great American Indie Bookstore.” American Way. Dec 2015. p. 81.
“Tour Powell’s City of Books.” Powells.com. http://www.powells.com/info/citytour.html

Cue Hyperventilation: Navigating Powell’s (Labyrinth) of Books

Though there are countless signs hanging from the ceilings, posters on the pillars, and notes from previous readers hanging on the shelves, perhaps the most important piece of advice a Powell’s City of Books customer may need doesn’t seem to be advertised: breathe.

breatheAs you approach the intersection of W. Burnside Street and NW 10th Avenue, black marquee letters on the simple, but unmistakable red and white store sign announce visiting authors, children’s story times, sales and promotions, and so on. The exterior recently received a coat of fresh paint, but an air of indifference for appearances differentiates it from the surrounding boutiques. The city-block-sized building isn’t the epitome of aesthetic beauty, but its proud proclamation that it houses both used and new books makes it clear that “what’s most important in Powell’s is neither image nor décor, but the books themselves.”

Underneath the sign are bike racks bearing the titles of cyclist-related books for the Pearl District’s sustainability-focused consumers, as well as the main entrance to the 68,000 square-foot space with its 1,000,000 volumes. This entrance deposits you into the welcoming Green Room, and another set of doors on the northwestern storefront leads to the Orange Room. These two rooms are also the only locations with registers, which forces the customer to shop solely in the rooms with the least amount of books, or to embark on an adventure.

Powell’s City of Books is split into nine color-coded rooms on three floors, as well as a customer service desk responsible for the books on hold on a fourth floor. With its rows of plain pine shelves towering twelve feet high over a cement floor, the store retains the industrial feel permeating the district’s architecture. Even the recent renovations have only enhanced the unique Powell’s experience, not made that experience feel similar to a trip to Barnes & Noble. The Green and Blue rooms, for example, received facelifts that addressed leaking roofs, energy inefficient windows, and poor lighting, but the construction exposed elements of the previous car dealership that have since been incorporated. Likewise, new rainbow carpeting has been installed in the Rose Room, which appeals to young readers without excluding other customers. The only exception to this stylistic rule is the Rare Book Room, which trades pine shelving for darker woods, and which seeks elegance with comfy, antique furniture pieces to settle into, and tasteful artwork. This is also the only area with its own hours and appointments.

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However, unless you want to take the easy (boring) way out and take the elevator straight to the Rare Book Room, you need to traverse through the rest of the labyrinthine store first. Just as Michael and Emily Powell and their staff are not there to dictate what you should read, they don’t emphasize any “right” path. Though the rooms have general themes, the maze-like layout encourages customers to explore a variety of topics as they move through the store, rather than directing certain demographics to certain areas. The interactive floor plan below offers one option for navigating the space.

If you start at the Green Room, you’ll find that it is home to bestsellers, award-winners, and staff picks. Though readers are encouraged to lose themselves in the shelves, this room still offers a pleasant book-buying experience to those with a budget or a time limit. The Blue Room may seem the most “literary” for those with more traditional tastes, for it contains categories such as classics, drama, poetry, memoir, and journalism. However, Powell’s does not place less value on popular fiction than on those works in the “literature” section. Rather than sending the fantasy nerds to hide in the back, the adjoining Gold Room invites those who had just been perusing Euripides to explore Eiichiro Oda instead; the shelves are stocked with manga, erotica, horror and mystery novels, westerns, and even nautical fiction.

The aptly named Coffee Room features the World Cup Coffee & Tea shop, but though the seating area offers a chance to re-energize, the shelves of graphic and romance novels guarantee you never forget you’re in a bookstore. The Orange Room offers a combination of cooking, gardening, humor, film, and musical works. This is also where thousands of used books are sold to Powell’s each day, as well as where customers can purchase souvenirs. The inclusion of such spaces complicates the chain/independent bookstore divisions that Laura J. Miller observes in Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. However, she also notes, “Larger independents…stress their connections community, usually emphasizing their embeddedness in and commitment to a locale” (121), and as a Portland staple, Powell’s City of Books connects the locals. When they choose to grab their morning coffee from the cafe or to use their Powell’s tote at the grocery store, they advertise their participation in a community founded on the sharing of ideas without pretension.

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Moving on, the Rose Room is perhaps the most family friendly room, for it caters to children, guardians, and even family pets with its books on parenting and children’s and young adult sections. As you ascend to the second floor, you will come across the Espresso Book Machine and special interest books in the Purple Room. Here, equal attention is paid to topics like investing, dance, philosophy, and self-help. The adjacent Red Room takes a different, “worldly” approach, offering books on diversity and travel, with topics ranging from Americana, to gay and lesbian literature, to transportation.

The progression from the first floor to the third seems to be from fiction, to non-fiction, to scholarly or career-focused works. The Pearl Room makes up the entirety of the third floor, and it contains an interesting mix of subjects; math and chemistry books sit alongside wedding and interior design pieces. While the inclusion of these books alongside the Rare Book Room and the Basil Hallward Gallery could be construed as elitist (i.e. keep those “story” readers on the first floor), Powell’s philosophy seems to indicate there’s a more pragmatic reason for the layout. A trip to Powell’s City of Books truly can turn into an all-day affair, and keeping the popular fiction books on the first level can encourage sales. It also makes sense to keep children with sticky hands and unpredictable tempers away from the $200+ volumes on the top floor…

The massive collection of used and new books, magazines, and other “things” at Powell’s City of Books is shared with the Portland community. As Bruno Latour notes, “A thing is, in one sense, an object out there and, in another sense, an issue very much in there, at any rate, a gathering” (2288), and each book on each shelf is a matter of fact – a physical object with a economic value – and a symbol of much more. The alleys of shelves allow customers to privately experience the books they peruse and the topics they seek out, but the layout of the store eventually forces them to encounter fellow book-lovers. The helpful (though not intrusive) staff are also there to offer guidance and discuss ideas. Thus, the books, and even the Powell’s water bottles, socks, and onesies, become things around which the Portland community is able to gather and advance the Powell’s mission.

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Sources

Images:
Cat Novelty Books. https://instagram.com/p/y3H3rHCyaK/
Crazed Customer Who Needs to Breathe. https://instagram.com/watashiwabritt/p/yDYzKymZMt/
Powell’s City of Books. http://www.tripcentral.ca/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Powells-City-of-Books.jpg
Powell’s Floor. https://instagram.com/p/xIE6HbOwBH/
Rare Book Room. https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/v/t1.0-9/995679_10151622671067552_927074394_n.jpg?oh=9b6332ffabeba755757cf2c6f65bfce3&oe=5592F0FA&__gda__=1435629224_beaae0f79cf8b77e6c3bca156d8c86e4
Socks Souvenir Display. https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10712947_10152737636612552_645503020510376504_n.jpg?oh=9016cfb678c08f2e1f003e7b47a0b61d&oe=557CA125&__gda__=1434921902_1997bdd3e6d62df87b6b31318ed2abcb

Media:
“Powell’s City of Books.” ThingLink. 2015. https://www.thinglink.com/scene/630842754942894080>

Text:
Latour, Bruno. “Why Has Critique Run out of Steam?” The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. Ed: Vincent B. Leitch. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 2282-2302.
Miller, Laura J. “Serving the Entertained Customer.” Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. 117-39.

Websites:
Chamberlin, Jeremiah. “Inside Indie Bookstores: Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon.” Poets & Writers. March 2010. http://www.pw.org/content/inside_indie_bookstores_powell_s_books_in_portland_oregon
Giegerich, Andy. “Inside Powell’s Books New Burnside Front Room.” Portland Business Journal. 01 Aug 2014. http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2014/08/inside-powells-books-new-burnside-front-room.html
“History of Powell’s Books.” Powells.com. http://www.powells.com/info/briefhistory.html
“Powell’s City of Books (Portland).” LibraryThing. https://www.librarything.com/venue/3811/Powells-City-of-Books-Portland-
Smith, David Hale. “Return of the Great American Indie Bookstore.” American Way. Dec 2015. p. 81.
“The Rare Book Room.” Powells.com. http://www.powells.com/locations/powells-city-of-books/the-rare-book-room/
“Tour Powell’s City of Books.” Powells.com. http://www.powells.com/info/citytour.html

Both the Changer and the Changed: the Dynamism of Powell’s Books

In Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling, Madge Jenison reflects on the development of her modernized bookstore in the early twentieth century, noting, “The only way we get at other human beings is through ideas, and where ideas are current something unlocks the breast” (114). The ideas captured in books have a transformative power, and sharing them with others can inspire progress. Where do you envision this exchange of ideas occurring? Close your eyes, if it helps. Perhaps you thought of a warm, wood-paneled library occupied by men in tweed jackets with elbow patches. Maybe you thought of a university classroom, a French salon, or a shady spot under a tree. You probably did not think of a massive warehouse on a street corner in an undeveloped, rough-and-tumble city district, though. However, it was in just that unexpected setting that one of the largest, most well stocked, and most popular independent bookstores in the world settled in.

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Long before the iconic red and white sign of Powell’s City of Books took over the corner of W. Burnside St. and NW. 10th Ave., the area that would later be known as the “Pearl District” was initially part of the Couch Addition. In 1869, this massive land donation from Captain John Couch incorporated a substantial amount of space to what was the existing northwest Portland, and it became known as the “Northwest Triangle.” The economy of the area was largely centered around rail lines for the latter half of the nineteenth century, and the transition into the twentieth was marked by a surge in warehouses, breweries, and shipping facilities. As discussed in my last post, Portland’s Pearl District has historically been predominantly white demographically, and this is largely because the industrial presence drew in a large population of blue-collar European immigrants.

As cars became more popular and highways were introduced, though, the steadiness of the Northwest Triangle was shaken; warehouses and manufacturing centers began to migrate to suburbia, and the railroad’s status as the premier mode of transportation changed. However, the architecture remained, with the freight houses becoming townhouses and the cheap warehouses-turned-lofts drawing in the starving artist population. It didn’t take long for others to realize that the industrial, brick-and-mortar structures were hiding a burgeoning cultural center bursting with creativity – the pearl among the “old, crusty exteriors.” By the time the name the “Pearl District” had been embraced, the dynamic, developing nature of the place was clearly evidenced by its collection of unique art galleries, upscale shopping locations, and global cuisine choices – many taking over the abandoned buildings. Over the course of the 1980s and ‘90s, the community proved to be receptive to change, mixing the old and the new with diverse cultures. It was here that Powell’s Books laid its roots.

Prior to becoming one of Portland’s most beloved landmarks, Powell’s Books had its beginnings some 2,100 miles away in Chicago, Illinois. In 1970, University of Chicago graduate student Michael Powell opened a small used book store near Hyde Park. Michael had experience buying and selling consigned textbooks, and with the monetary assistance of distinguished professors, his bookstore flourished, slowly creeping into the space of the surrounding shops. As the summer of 1971 rolled around, Michael’s father, Walter, came to assist him. When he returned home to Portland after a month, Walter immediately set out to open his own bookstore. After filling the shelves with every book he came across, Walter realized that not only would his profits increase if he sold used and new books alongside each other, but it would be a more enjoyable experience for customers if they did not need to make multiple stops. Just as Madge Jenison was “horrified” by the empty shelves when she and her partner only “bought everything that we liked and everything we especially wanted people to read” (20), both Walter and Michael realized the importance of “afford[ing] readers the broadest possible perspective of reading” and sought to offer as many books as possible without expressing any judgment regarding customers’ choices. This was a defining decision, and when Michael returned to Portland in 1979 to join his father, the space of a former car dealership proved necessary for the ever-growing stockpiles of dog-eared novels, freshly printed memoirs, and out-of-print collections of poetry. Thus, Powell’s City of Books was born. (I don’t know about you, but I’m imagining Rafiki from The Lion King triumphantly lifting the whole store into the air. Just me? Okay.)

powellschange

In 1982, Walter sold the business to Michael, and in a flash, it proliferated Portland and the nearby suburbs. Walter unfortunately died in 1985, but he was able to see some of his and Michael’s plans coming to fruition as Powell’s expanded. In 1984, a store in Beaverton became the second location (which was moved to Cedar Hills Crossing in 2006), and two stores on Hawthorne Blvd. were opened shortly afterward in 1986 and ’87. The Hawthorne locations were specialty stores, with Powell’s Technical Books (which closed in March 2010) offering science, math, and engineering books, and Powell’s Books for Home and Gardens offering books about cooking, home improvement, and gardening. In 1988, Powell’s Books PDX was unveiled at the Portland International Airport. Like the other locations, this store sold both new and used books, even allowing travelers to sell their own used books before catching their next flight. As each location opened, Michael remained committed to creating an atmosphere that was welcoming, comfortable, and maintained a sort of industrial look that differed from that of the chain stores.

pillarIn an effort to reach a larger customer base, Powell’s created its first website in 1994. Though the website has evolved over time, even its most basic version immediately proved popular for customers around the world, including the Englishman who made the special request that encouraged the company to settle comfortably into cyberspace in the first place. By 2004, Powells.com required its own 60,000 square-foot warehouse to process the ever-growing number of online orders, as well as to integrate the books the business purchased from customers in the buyback program. However, though Powell’s online presence continues to strengthen, Powell’s flagship location often remains the focus. In 1999, the first round of construction ended, and the current four-story layout was revealed. At the entrance is the Pillar of Books, a carving with the titles of classic books from around the world, and on which Michael’s and Walter’s vision is clearly spelled out: “Coeme Librum (Buy the Book), Lege Librum (Read the Book), Carpe Librum (Enjoy the Book), Vende Librum (Sell the Book).” In the past year, the Green and Blue rooms have been remodeled again to prevent roof leaks, but the spirit of Powell’s books remains unchanged.

In July of 2010, Michael Powell’s daughter Emily took over the business as the president of Powell’s books, continuing the tradition of keeping the business in the family. She was handed the reins when the question of how an independent bookstore can stay afloat as a recession demands layoffs and e-Readers become more popular became increasingly pressing. Despite these challenges, Emily has remained aware of shifts in the industry and conscious of the role Powell’s plays in the community as a link between the past and present, as well as a major shaper of Portland’s future. In A Free Man’s Books: An Address, Archibald MacLeish questions whether “in our lives as well as in our words” we “ascribe as great an influence to the books we write and publish and sell and catalogue and teach” as we claim to (MacLeish 6-7), noting that books have been historically taken for granted. The Powell family seems to have never forgotten just how powerful their product is, though. With the introduction of the self-publishing Espresso Book Machine, the never-ending list of authors invited to interact with their readers, and the business’ engagement with civic issues and youth literacy, it is clear Emily and the new CEO, Miriam Sontz, are up to the challenge of improving Powell’s as both Portland and the book industry transform. After 44 years of storefront makeovers, expansion to new territories, and both causing and embracing change in the revitalized Pearl District, it remains evident that Powell’s Books remains committed to offering a little bit of everything without ever claiming to be the authority on ideas or on what makes for “proper” reading.

 

Sources

Images:
1869 Couch Addition Map (edited). <http://explorethepearl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/couchs-addition-1891.jpg>
Current Powell’s City of Books. <http://www.bloomberg.com/ss/09/06/0619_best_independent_stores/image/016_powells.jpg>
Pillar of Books. <http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/y398/sarahndipity16/345151251_190807cba4_z_zps30ad3603.jpg>
Powell’s City of Books, 1980s. <http://files.photosnack.net/albums/images/d9c58a2568d4f45c2932c6i227208746/scale-1000×1000>
Wentworth & Irwin Car Dealership. <https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10366301_10152393760897552_7119434855334597278_n.jpg?oh=1749427a2c8d6e7c105b204183263fa3&oe=5556BBE5&__gda__=1435163264_17d2f2932487c9c1cb41e6079692c074>

Media:
“A History of Powell’s City of Books.” Dipity. 2015. <http://www.dipity.com/marykate_wust/A-History-of-Powells-City-of-Books-and-the-Pearl-District>
“Powell’s City of Books.” YouTube. 2009. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EklehoXdn-I>

Text:
Jenison, Madge. Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling. New York: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1923. 16-30, 110-26.
MacLeish, Archibald. A Free Man’s Books: An Address. New York: The Peter Pauper Press, 1942. 5-17.

Websites:
“About Pearl District.” Pearl District Neighborhood Association. 2015. <http://www.pearldistrict.org/about-the-pearl-district/>
Amstutz, Nicolette. “Indie Groundbreaking Bookseller: Powell’s Books.” Independent Publisher. 2012. <http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1670>
Boule, Margie. “Pearl District’s Namesake Was a Jewel of a Woman.” Oregon Live. 2002. <http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2002/04/pearl_districts_namesake_was_a.html>
Chamberlin, Jeremiah. “Inside Indie Bookstores: Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon.” Poets & Writers. March 2010. <http://www.pw.org/content/inside_indie_bookstores_powell_s_books_in_portland_oregon>
“History of Powell’s Books.” Powells.com. <http://www.powells.com/info/briefhistory.html>
“History of the Pearl District.” Explore the Pearl. 2014. <http://explorethepearl.com/about-the-pearl/history-of-the-pearl-district/>
Kadas, Marianne. “A Brief History of the Pearl District.” Marshall Wells Lofts. 2001. <http://www.marshall-wells.com/historypearl.html>
“Powell’s Books, Inc. History.” Funding Universe. 2001. <http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/powell-s-books-inc-history/>
Raber, Rebecca. “Independent Spirit: Emily Powell, ’00.” Haverford College News. 2012. <http://www.haverford.edu/news/stories/66431/51>
Zuhl, Joanne. “Michael Powell Reflects on Creating the Legendary Bookstore and Keeping It Strong for the Next Generation.” StreetRoots. 2011. <http://news.streetroots.org/2011/02/02/michael-powell-reflects-creating-legendary-book-store-and-keeping-it-strong-next>

Powell’s Past and Places: Success Then and Now

 

What becomes apparent when multiple bookstores are studied, rising and falling, is that there is much to be said for the strategies employed, and the philosophies followed, by booksellers, rather than a reliance on tradition or history. Fitting enough, considering that, as a product of literature, book culture must have a mind for innovation and open-mindedness. Nor must every successful campaign be characterized by its massive hurdles or growth in an unsupportive climate—simple faith and good luck on top of a good idea here and there can reward intrepid businesspeople handsomely.

Now the largest independent bookstore in the world, Powell’s Books is not yet fifty years old. As the site’s own Brief History page notes, Michael Powell first opened his own bookstore in Chicago in 1970, while he was a graduate student at the University of Chicago, just after Waldenbooks had achieved “fifty-nine stores in nineteen states” in 1969, as Laura J. Miller writes (45), and just before the time when “a new wave of mergers and acquisitions took place,” with publishers buying each other out seemingly just to stay afloat (40). Powell was lent $3000 by three professors: Morris Janowitz, Edward Shils, and Saul Bellow (it must have been a good omen that a literary figure of that caliber saw something special in Powell’s idea). Having sold plenty of books among fellow students before, Powell knew that the used paperback market could be lucrative in the right areas; having started with only part of the building space, Powell was able to buy the remaining spaces once the other owners vacated.

Not only was this initial venture very successful for Michael, but his father, Walter, saw something special in the book trade as well and opened a used bookstore in Portland, Oregon, in 1971, where the chain is now based and where all but one of its stores are located (Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing is in the nearby city of Beaverton). This store filled a used American Motors dealership—really filled it, taking every used book that came in.

Eight years after Walter’s store opened, he suggested to Michael that it would be a good time to return to Oregon, and Michael was convinced—he joined his father again, and multiple sides of the book trade were uncharacteristically brought together all at once—the decision to sell new books alongside the used in the same store, which was apparently unheard-of at the time, raised the store to a new level of convenience, assured a non-judgmental feeling for the customer, and created a rock-solid foundation for success.

W Burnside, 1917 (courtesy of vintageportland.wordpress.com) Or, rather, a cement foundation. Powell’s rose up, as Michael put it, in “an undeveloped neighborhood,” consisting of “mostly warehouses, wholesalers, and auto repair shops.” But this general aesthetic of the area surrounding the store, this downtown region, was used to the Powells’ advantage. They deliberately cultivated the industrial look that they had started with—“pine wood [and a] cement floor,” and twelve-foot-tall shelves. Contrary to the observations of other bookstore scholars, Michael Powell felt that it was in fact the brightly-lit, low-shelved chain stores that made customers feel pressured, and that the relative bareness of their own stores and the feeling of fullness resulting from towering shelves created the homiest home for the literary mixing that Powell’s was all about. It is through this ingenuity and friendliness that Powell’s has been able to achieve a scholarly feeling of place, as given, for example, by David Harvey in “From Space to Place and Back Again,” as “a discursive/symbolic meaning well beyond that of mere location” (293).

Of course, this downtown area comes with its own history. “Burnside Street originally was named B Street as part of the ‘Alphabet District’ in northwest Portland,” Portland’s website says. The site also attributes the street’s initial inability to open “respectable businesses” to the way that it drew unsavory people for illicit activities in the 1860s. In 1892 it was named for David W. Burnside, a merchant. The early 1900s saw automotive innovations such as a track for streetcars and Burnside Bridge, and the rest of the .gov website page is seemingly all dedicated to roadway fixes that the street has had to make.

But not all of Powell’s stores are to be found on this once-foreboding downtown street. Two of Powell’s expansions are located on Hawthorne Boulevard: Powell’s Books on Hawthorne, appropriately enough, and Powell’s Books for Home and Garden. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the years in which these two stores opened.

Powell's Books at PDX Powell’s Books at PDX (the bookstore in the Portland International Airport), however, is listed as opening in 1988, and prides itself on being a full used bookstore in an airport, offering the same width of selection as any of the other stores as well as suggestions tailored to the specific traveling conditions of each customer. There used to be three different stores in PDX, but as of last year two of the stores closed.

Powell’s has also served Beaverton since 1984, but it was relatively recently that it opened the store that currently stands, Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, which is almost half the size of the City of Books, boasts what looks to me like an even taller entrance, and, according to Paul Smailes, “[takes] the best elements of all the Powell’s stores and [rolls] them into one [. . .] the big store feel of the City of Books, a very large technical book selection to serve [its] neighbors [. . . and] the largest children’s book section of any book store on the West Coast.” Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing

(Powell’s Technical Books has ceased being its own store as of four months ago and has been merged into the main store, though that’s probably not to say that the selection of technical books has been downsized).

From a book-lover’s standpoint, what is perhaps most heartening about this branching out is that the existence of the megastore on Burnside Street has not in any way prevented these new locations from having distinct feelings; they aren’t built from smaller blueprints of the main store, but have their own unique rooms with defined purposes, like the Madison, Hawthorne, and Tabor rooms in the Hawthorne store, named after landmarks in the area.

But it’s not merely Powell’s physical storefronts that have flourished. The chain was, in fact, one of the first bookstores to hop on the online-retail bubble, in 1994, initially inspired to this level of expansion by a request from an English man to send a technical book. This transaction was $50 cheaper than it would have been had he simply gone through his local store (which would have had to order its copy from the States anyway). While most single purchases of a book are not quite so expensive, the amount of money that this man saved does at least seem proportional with how much cheaper books often are online. Michael Powell himself notes to Jeremiah Chamberlin, however, that “[there] are cheaper places” to order books online, but also that the store’s online sales presence is “steady.” Indeed, Powell’s.com has quickly come to account for between 25-30% of the store’s sales per year. It’s not titanic in the same way as Amazon and AbeBooks can seem to be, but it’s clearly set a good example for the field.

Thus, Powell’s is, today, not just the largest independent bookstore in the world (though that in itself says enough about the store’s success), but also just one of the most successful. As I noted in the timeline, Powell’s has recently had to let a number of its employees go—31, to be exact—in 2011, which was worrying, as such incidents in a bookstore’s history always are; and since Michael handed the store over to his daughter in 2010, the transfer of CEO position to Miriam Sontz a few years later feels like a very fast management turnover. But it seems to me that these factors ultimately say more about the growth of the book industry as a whole, the shifts of stock to different stores, fluctuations in success not only for the small(er) independents, but also megaliths like Borders. Michael feels that Powell’s has become not only a major attraction in Oregon (to paraphrase him, it’s one of three things that will immediately come to mind for a Portland activity), but also a big player in its transformation from a seedy downtown area to a prime location for boutique businesses. To take his point even wider, his store is prominent as a champion of book culture in all its facets.

 

Images

Powell’s Books

Powell’s Books at PDX

W Burnside Street, 1917

Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing

Dipity Timeline

Text

Harvey, David. Justice, Nature, and the Geography of Difference. Blackwell Pub, 1996. 203.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. 40, 45.

Websites

The History of Powell’s Books
About Powell’s City of Books
Powell’s Books on Hawthorne
Powell’s Books for Home and Garden
The History of Powell’s.com
Inside Indie Bookstores: Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon
Powell’s Books Announces Layoffs
The Espresso Book Machine Arrives at Powell’s Books
Owner, new CEO of Powell’s Books see strength in brick and mortar
r/Portland
Burnside Street History
Powell’s Wikipedia Page

Powell’s Books: Betting on the Underdog

Close your eyes and imagine the story of the classic underdog. What do you see? Do you see a scrawny, disadvantaged loser without a change, or something more? The concept of the underdog has been around for ages, applied to any and every competitive situation known to man, including the book industry. In this particular case, that underdog is Walter Powell, a simple man with a simple dream.

Walter Powell was inspired by his son, Michael Powell, who graduated from the University of Chicago in 1970.
Once out of college he decided he would attempt to open a small bookstore on the outskirts of this beloved city. The bookstore was mildly successful; however it is better known for its influence on Michael Powell’s father, Walter, who often assisted Michael in the bookstore. This gave Walter Powell a taste for the bookselling industry, and just like Harriet from Parnassus on Wheels, he became ravenous for the bookselling adventure.

Powell’s City of Books: Portland, Oregon 2015

Walter Powell decided he wanted to open a bookstore somewhere in downtown Portland Oregon; he searched high and low for that perfect location, struggling to find a place to root his business. He was not satisfied with any of the locations he found throughout the search, until he stumbled upon an old warehouse which was previously used as a car dealership. In October of 1971 Walter Powell took a huge risk; he bought the old car lot and warehouse and suddenly Powell’s City of Books was born.

From the beginning of this endeavor Walter Powell struggled attempting to figure out where he wanted his bookstore to fall on the proverbial cultural map. In the early chapters of her book, Reluctant Capitalists, Laura J. Miller discusses the idea of culture and commerce; arguing that they should not be considered individual entities, but seen as vehicles making each other accessible to the general public. “Culture” as a concept is the idea of how society constructs itself, allowing people to grasp a better understand of the world and how human beings individually fit into it; while “commerce” as a concept is the ways in which money and goods are exchanged. How are these two concepts seen in relation to Powell’s City of Books? Walter Powell chose to position his bookstore in an entirely industrial part of the city of Portland, right smack dab in the middle of the hustle and bustle of growth and development.

The relationship between culture and commerce allows Walter to begin to question where he, and his bookstore, belong amongst these industrialized businesses and people. Faced with this particular conflict of “place” (Cresswell) Walter Powell had to make a decision: where is that perfect balance between big chain bookstore and local hole-in-the-wall community staple? If the bookstore was going to have any chance of survival Walter was going to have to find an answer to that question. Shortly after the bookstore’s birth Powell realized he would have to make it his mission to move with the crowd, rather than against it; expanding and developing the bookstore to keep up with the thriving city surrounding it, or it was at risk of being swallowed whole by the industrialization. By examining the surrounding neighborhoods, Powell began bringing culture and commerce together, making a point of purchasing every marketable book he could get his hands on. While this endeavor gave Powell a spring-board to keep his head above water, he still needed to do more and push harder to give Powell’s City of Books a firm foothold in the Pearl District.

          

 

 

 

 

It was not until 1979 after Walter Powell and his son, Michael, officially became business partners that the two of them decided to give their business plan a revamp which would forever change Powell’s City of Books for the better. While the neighborhood surrounding Powell’s was particularly industrialized it still had a sense of personalized identity. The other businesses around which were successful had found that balance between culture and commerce. The people didn’t want huge chain stores blocking the skyline; they wanted stores with unique qualities that were still able to hold their own in the business world. As Michael and Walter continued to build Powell’s City of Books they realized they needed a brand new concept which would help to define their “place” (Creswell) in Portland. Walter, with the help of his son, expanded the horizons of Powell’s City of Books becoming the first bookstore to sell new, used, rare and out-of-print books all in one place on the same shelves.

This change allowed Powell’s City of Books to begin to gain a proper foothold in the community of Portland, but the bookstore was far from being safely settled. In the beginning, Powell’s City of Books was a stand-alone bookstore, which was Walter’s intension, but this caused some issues for the bookstore itself. As the Pearl District continued to grow and develop Powell’s was beginning to lose its grasp because it lacked many of the positive qualities associated with superstores, specifically standardization. In Laura J. Miller’s book Reluctant Capitalists she explores the constructive nature associated with standardization, especially in association with the merchandise sold as well as the store’s general layout.

Today’s Layout of Powell’s City of Books.

Powell’s City of Books was already successfully combating the first aspect, merchandise, selling basically any book they were able to obtain and market; however, the store’s layout was still posing a problem. When someone enters a bookstore, whether they have the intention of buying or browsing, the goal is to have the easiest and least painful experience possible. In the beginning Powell’s City of Books was a hodge-podge of a bookstore; it lacked a set, easily-navigated system which left customers frustrated and confused. It was not until Michael Powell took exclusive control over the company upon his father’s retirement in 1982 that this problem was resolved. Michael broke the store into rooms; each room had a theme ranging from Shakespearean literature to graphic novels. Once the store gained this organizational standardization Powell’s City of Books was able to solidify its foothold in the Portland community, allowing them to begin work on further expansion throughout Oregon.
In 1988 the Powell’s Book Company opened its very first branch store: Powell’s Books at PDX, which is the local airport stationed in Portland Oregon. After this store’s opening Powell’s books continued to grow and flourish; opening a grand total of five stores to date, each having its own specific focus. Powell’s City of Books is still considered the headquarters of the company due to its extensive size and collection, but that does not undermine the company’s branch stores.

http://www.powells.com/

While opening more bookstores did wonders for the company as a whole, something else had an even bigger impact: the internet. In early 1994 Powell’s Books broke into the online spectrum with a splash. Other online bookselling companies, such as Amazon.com did not come into existence until late 1994. Since Powell’s was able to get online before these other booksellers it gave them a serious leg up on the competition. Powell’s online book sales were hugely successful and by 1995 they had their entire store inventory available online.

As one would expect Powell’s Book Company continues to grow and flourish today. When Walter Powell first opened Powell’s City of Books he had a simply dream: he wanted a place where people could find what they were looking for, whether that be the the perfect book, or the perfect type of comradery. The beginning was hardly an easy feat for the Powell Partners, but as the years progressed they were able to find their footing in Portland and its surrounding areas. Everyone loves the story of that classic underdog. That defeated figure that doesn’t seem to have a fighting chance, which with enough luck, knowledge and perseverance can come out on top. Walter Powell and his City of Books is the perfect example of just what hard work and dedication can really accomplish.

Citations:

Links

Powell’s Website http://www.powells.com/

Powell’s Locations http://www.powells.com/locations/

Photos:

Storefront http://www.bloomberg.com/ss/09/06/0619_best_independent_stores/16.htm

Store Layout Map https://www.google.com/search?q=powell%27s+city+of+books&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=FNHhVLSGBMOrNsKChOgB&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw#imgdii=_&imgrc=X7UtS4AzyRc62M%253A%3BpZi4kldXrtfliM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbroadconversation.files.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F07%252Fpowells-map.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbroadconversation.com%252Ftag%252Fpowells-books%252F%3B600%3B382

Website Snapshot https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t34.0-12/11004501_10206338294004026_1589726198_n.jpg?oh=506cf40986745610729b29bf7addd752&oe=54E42AED&__gda__=1424241724_1566e1ad5321095e2aa872a36af21899

Inside Powell’s https://www.google.com/search?q=powell%27s+city+of+books&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=FNHhVLSGBMOrNsKChOgB&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw#imgdii=_&imgrc=fpPWMs11i_fvIM%253A%3BGyPTurundrsEhM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.capstone.org%252Fimg%252FPowells_Book_City.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.capstone.org%252FPDX%252F20-reasons.php%3B620%3B349

Advertisement https://www.google.com/search?q=powell%27s+city+of+books&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=FNHhVLSGBMOrNsKChOgB&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw#imgdii=_&imgrc=gWS9EeUFJs3-vM%253A%3BhVgJ1E_x4N0ioM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F41.media.tumblr.com%252Fdc3ca1cf3c7b7e25298594864b818fc6%252Ftumblr_mesmhkaqQL1rr1hc7o1_500.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Francidxwritings.tumblr.com%252F%3B450%3B590

Street https://www.google.com/search?q=powell%27s+city+of+books&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=FNHhVLSGBMOrNsKChOgB&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw#imgdii=_&imgrc=uEWoJ_Ksrm1NoM%253A%3BuWEAzGu9phF1AM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252Fd%252Fd2%252FPortlandStreetcarAtPowells.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Frobertfrostsbanjo.blogspot.com%252F2012%252F03%252Fcity-of-books.html%3B2581%3B1599

Images on Timeline:

Inside Powell’s http://www.powells.com/info/briefhistory.html

Website https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t34.0-12/11004501_10206338294004026_1589726198_n.jpg?oh=506cf40986745610729b29bf7addd752&oe=54E42AED&__gda__=1424241724_1566e1ad5321095e2aa872a36af21899

Specific Store Locations

Emily Powell https://www.google.com/search?q=emily+powell&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=OdzhVO3QFcadgwTz-oOYDA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgdii=_&imgrc=d0vpEb_qJlUG5M%253A%3BkqNJT6hB59SVeM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhaverford.edu%252Fgenerated%252Fdynamic%252Fhhp%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F01%252Femily-powell-800×600.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.haverford.edu%252Fhome%252F2013%252F02%252F13%252Findependent-spirit-2%252F%3B800%3B600

 

Text:

Morley, Christopher. Parnassus on Wheels. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2006. Print.

Cresswell, Tim. “Defining Place.” (n.d.): n. pag. Print.

Cresswell, Tim. A Global Sense of Place. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

The City of Books: The Song Remains the Same

Imagine a wasteland full of abandoned factories, warehouses and waterways, heavy construction equipment, illegal activities and tiny businesses butting up against industry. There are vacant lots and buildings, as well as deserted homes, scattered throughout the neighborhood. Alls sorts of people are starting to move in, attracted by the space and low rents. (Explore the Pearl) This is a picture ot the neighborhood where many settled before it developed into the center for arts and entertainment it was to become. This was the Portland, Oregon of the 70’s. This is where Powell’s Books put down its roots.

The bookstore that originally sparked the idea was located in Chicago, IL. It was created by a student named Michael Powell. After several years, during the 1960’s, of thrifting, consignment and flea market sales of used books, Michael opened a used bookstore in 1970. (Powells.com) His father, Walter, came in 1971 to help out with the growing business.

couchs-addition-1891
Photograph of the original Couch’s Addition map. The Pearl District was originally part of Couch’s Addition and the area around the it had primarily small houses which were home to blue-collar European immigrants. http://explorethepearl.com

Walter went back to Portland in 1971 and opened up a bookstore of his own. As industry was phasing out in parts of downtown Portland, his was one of the small businesses that were attracted to an up and coming section on the edge of the city. They were all hoping to turn their dreams into reality for little money. (Powells.com) Walter was drawn to a section of Portland  that  had long been leaning toward re-gentrification.  It was called “The  Pearl”,  and it was a spot that artists and small businesses found  inexpensive  spaces to work and live, but with good proximity to the  center of  downtown. In 1978, the first artists moved in. (Explore the Pearl) By 1980 the art  galleries and industrial conversion living spaces began to follow as  zoning changes allowed for more mixed usage.

It was the start of developing the famous culture that the Pearl District is so well-known for today. It was also around this time that the district began to gain attention from the Portland Development Commission and started evolving into the area it had the potential to become. (Allen) The River District Vision Plan of 1992 led to the River District Development Plan of 1998, which paved the way for tax monies to be directed back into the neighborhood.

In 1979, Michael accepted his dad’s invitation to come back to Oregon to work the business together. The fact that he and his wife had suffered through a huge snowstorm in Chicago that winter, were trying to care for their newborn daughter, and the declining neighborhood which was unsuitable for family living all played into Michael’s decision to head back to the Portland area in which he had grown up. It was unfortunate that, the night before he was to move back the landlord gave them a year’s notice to vacate, forcing them to spend their first year looking for a place to relocate. (Chamberlin) And this is the location of their flagship store to this day.

But, back to our fledgling bookstore, which was different from the typical bookstore. Walter bought every marketable used book that passed through his doors and quickly ran out of space to store all of them. He had to expand into the used car dealership next door in order to accommodate his entire stock. (Powells.com) They created quite a unique shop. It was one that offered new and used books alongside one another – – and the books actually sold! (Chamberlin)  They called themselves a “book lovers’ paradise.”

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Photograph of Powell’s Books’ shelves. “In the used book world, mixing paperbacks and hardbacks was not so much of a stretch, but when my dad had the idea of bringing in new books too, I had no sympathy. Used and new on the same shelf? It seemed crazy.” ~Michael Powell http://www.getawaybrigade.com/

By choosing to include every type of book, (new and used, out-of-print, and rare to name a few,) and to proffer everything they offered back to the community, we see a very unique type of business evolving. (Chamberlin) Powell’s was there in the beginning, and got more successful over the decades.

So, how does a “used” bookstore like this not only survive for nearly fifty years, but thrive in such a deliberately shifting neighborhood? It has not been replaced, nor changed much about its work ethic in the years it’s been open. Back in 2004, Powell’s did try an experiment of sorts. It was a sort of pop-up store, long before they existed. (Chamberlin) They set up a temporary buying store in Seattle, to help meet the demand for used books. At the time they were responsible for half of Powell’s sales, according to then-marketing manager Michael Drannen.

While everything was built up around it and the state of Oregon spent enormous amounts of money to create the fantastical Pearl District, Powell’s was barely touched. It remains to this day a reminder to everyone that not only can a small business survive, but also that the passion for books is strong enough that a bookstore, located in the right area and run properly, can become and remain an integral part of a neighborhood.

It is really saying something when a book seller’s flagship store not only occupies an entire city block in Portland, Oregon, but that it has done well enough to sustain five thriving locations. Plus, it was once rated by CNN as one of the 10 coolest bookstores in the world, and by USA Today as one of America’s 10 best bookstores. (Cha) Archibald MacLeish poses a question to readers in his address “A Free Man’s Books”. He asks if we really know the power that books have on society, a nation, and even a nation’s life. The passion for books overcomes all else. The Powell’s were able to stock new and used books on the same shelves, all genres and types, because of the overarching power of the books themselves. While some wealthier people, or artistic people, or any sort of majority or minority might want a specific type of book on their bookshelves, the overall love for books allowed all types of books, and therefore people, to mix together at Powell’s. The power of these books is enough to find a place in what is now one of the most prestigious, artistic neighborhoods near downtown Portland. No matter what the fashion, this bookstore earned its place.

 

Sources

Text

World’s Coolest Bookstores

Inside Indie Bookstores: Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon

Explore the Pearl

Places to Crawl Between the Covers

Pearl District Transformation

The darkest timeline: Powell’s Books

Pearl’s District’s Namesake

Powell’s History

Return of the Displaced

MacLeish, Archibald. A Free Man’s Books. Mount Vernon, New York: Peter Pauper. Print.

Pictures

Photograph of the original Couch’s Addition map

Photograph of Powell’s Books’ shelves

Powell’s Books: A Gem in the Pearl District

I’m the kind of girl who can’t resist a booklist. Tell me you have a list of ten, twenty-five, one hundred books that I need to read before I die, and my curiosity is piqued. That being said, my attention usually wanes rather quickly when I disappointingly find that a booklist is just like all the others. All of those classics written by white males are great, but we’re just not on the same page anymore (forgive the pun), and we need to go our separate ways; it’s for the best. As I explored the website for Portland, Oregon’s iconic book emporium, Powell’s City of Books, I came across the staff’s “25 Books to Read Before You Die.” As always, I felt that same need to peruse their selections with an accompanying sense of trepidation, but for the first time, it proved unfounded. The first book listed was 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, a Chilean author. The second was All about Love by bell hooks. It was love at first read.

This list, as well as Powell’s mission to sell new, used, and rare books alongside each other, indicates a larger interest in sharing as many diverse, unique perspectives with their patrons as possible. Like many larger bookstores, their website offers the questionably separated “Literature” category, but this category is split into subcategories ranging from “Oceania” to “Urban Life”; Powell’s doesn’t just stick some Hemingway, Thoreau, and Orwell in there and call it a day. Yes, Powell’s is a business – and an incredibly successful business at that, with five physical locations in Oregon and an immensely popular website for readers around the world to utilize. However, they are quite successful at portraying that business as one concerned with offering a cultural and global education through stories.

Why does this matter, though, especially if I am going to make you wait a few weeks before I describe the actual bookstore (which I will note here is so large that a map is actually required, lest you become trapped amongst the maze of shelves and must resign yourself to munching on the books in the cooking section of the Orange Room for survival)?

42196For me, it matters because Portland, Oregon, is white. Ivory individuals. Cream-colored commuters. An eggshell electorate. Vanilla visitors. White people everywhere. It is neither a necessarily positive or negative thing, but Portland has consistently been ranked one of the top ten whitest major cities in the country. In 2010, Portland’s Pearl District (in which Powell’s City of Books is located) was populated by approximately 5,997 people, and of those, an overwhelming majority – 84.9% – reported themselves as identifying as only White. In contrast, only 7.6% identified as Asian, 3.9% as Latino/a, and a mere 2.4% as Black or African-American. While Portland’s population is on the rise, it is privileged, mobile, educated, white twenty-somethings who are flocking to the land of microbreweries, maple bacon doughnuts, and the 24 Hour Church of Elvis. Because four of Powell’s stores are located in Portland, with the remaining fifth in nearby Beaverton, it is necessary to understand the demographic makeup of the clientele and their perception of their place in the world if one hopes to understand how Powell’s mission is marketed and fulfilled. Tim Cresswell understands place as being “space invested with meaning in the context of power” (12), and Powell’s role as a community space and the “subjective and meaningful attachment” (7) people assign to it is intertwined with the larger attachments to the neighborhood as a whole.

As stated, Powell’s City of Books (the flagship location) is our main interest here, so let’s take a further look at its home.

After a long and varied history, the Pearl District has become a hub of cultural activity that draws in successful professionals. The median age in 2010 in the centrally located district was 39.5 for men and 38.5 for women, and while there are children running around the inviting park spaces, predominantly non-family households occupy the warehouse-turned-loft apartments and the towering condos. Nearly half of the professional men and women are involved in management, sales, and office jobs (46.2% and 41%, respectively), and 15% of the workforce hold elite positions such as CEOs, CFPs, presidents, etc. However, this upscale neighborhood is hardly stuffy. With its wide variety of boutiques, fitness centers, cafés, and restaurants, its numerous art galleries and performance spaces, and its emphasis on sustainability, it is no surprise that the district was listed as the fifth of Forbes’ “Best Hipster Neighborhoods” in 2012. You can find some of these businesses in the map below; restaurants are denoted by pink circles, while artistic spaces are in green, and notable shops are in blue.

While you can certainly find comfort food, brew pubs, and four Starbucks locations in “The Pearl”, the district also boasts “a foodie’s playground”, with options ranging from Zataar’s Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisine, to Andina Restaurant’s South American dining and live music. The district is also renowned for its vibrant art scene. After spending the afternoon enjoying curated exhibitions, poetry readings, coffee, and conversation at the Glyph Café and Arts Space, one only needs to take a five-minute walk to go enjoy a show at the Gerding Theater at the Armory, which hosts one of the country’s top twenty theatre companies. There is nary an Urban Outfitters to be found in the district, which instead offers shops like Sabina’s Style, a women’s clothing store that features international fashions created by a collection of designers spanning the globe.

The dominating presence of businesses that endorse some sort of engagement with culture poses the question of whether the sense of place that is evoked in the Pearl District and that is promoted by its successful, upper-middle class white population is merely, as Tim Cresswell considers, “a kind of aestheticized difference” in which diversity is treated as “picturesque” (78). This is not to say that the overwhelmingly white population of the Pearl District is incapable of appreciating diversity simply because of their whiteness, but if place is a way of “seeing, knowing, and understanding the world” (11), how are we to understand the Pearl District as a place in which bits of so many other places are mixed together? How do people conflate “Oregon-ness” with worldliness that is emphasized so proudly in their perception of their home?

These businesses seemingly allow for a performance of culture, but the presence of Powell’s City of Books in the district leads me to hope that books awaken a genuine curiosity that cannot simply be met by partaking in some Polynesian or Cretan food. Readers can be exposed to their privileges and ignorance when coming across an issue or idea they have never considered before – regardless of the genre through which it is introduced. It is my hope that Powell’s presence as the sole bookstore in the Pearl District offers that experience to its patrons who have perhaps never realized the impact of gentrification or have noted the lack of diversity in their bubble of “urban renaissance”.

Sources

Content:
Brennan, Morgan. “America’s Hippest Hipster Neighborhoods.” Forbes. 2012. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/09/20/americas-hippest-hipster-neighborhoods/>
City Data, Pearl District Neighborhood, Portland, Oregon. <http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Pearl-Portland-OR.html>
City Data, Portland, Oregon. <http://www.city-data.com/city/Portland-Oregon.html>
Cresswell, Tim. “Defining Place.” Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. 1-14.
Cresswell, Tim. “Reading ‘A Global Sense of Place’.” Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. 53-79.
Hammond, Betsy. “In a Changing World, Portland Remains Overwhelmingly White.” Oregon Live. 2009. <http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/01/in_a_changing_world_portland_r.html>
Pearl District Census Profile, 2000 and 2010. <http://www.portlandoregon.gov/oni/article/376008>

Images:
City Data, Pearl Race Breakdown. <http://pics.city-data.com/nraces/42196.jpg>
Powell’s City of Books. <http://explorethepearl.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/powells_logo.jpg>

Linked Text
24 Hour Church of Elvis. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hour_Church_of_Elvis>
Explore the Pearl: The Official Site of Portland’s Pearl District. <http://explorethepearl.com>
Portland Beer. <http://www.portlandbeer.org/breweries>
Powell’s Books. <http://www.powells.com>
Voodoo Doughnuts. <http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/>

Maps:
Google Maps: Powell’s City of Books, Portland, Orgeon. <https://www.google.com/maps/@45.522979,-122.681147,3a,75y,322.41h,80.85t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s5NkuMcbDEc59Xj8vUGat5A!2e0?hl=en-US>
Powell’s City of Books and the Surrounding Pearl District. <https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=zuFlthoYnoeA.kbo_Q5CoHrVo>