With the news at the time of this writing that even ubiquitous bookseller chain Borders is having problems in America’s sagging economy–you know that booksellers in general are in big trouble in the age of Walmart eating up the world…one store at a time. And Walmart doesn’t even have a comprehensive collection of books (and CD’s) that Borders has. Well, Borders will likely survive just like McDonald’s did when they almost went under after everybody started turning vegan. What’s interesting is that even though people are looking for bargains in books–one major bookstore in Portland, Oregon that’s famous all around the world is still doing just fine as a walk-in store and longtime internet dealer.
That particular book store is called Powell’s Books. You don’t save much money shopping for books there–though that isn’t the point. It’s a vast universe full of the latest books and out of print books you wouldn’t be able to find in one place anywhere else in the United States.
If you’re one to travel at some point during the year, you might want to be like all other tourists and take in this bookstore at least once in your lifetime of travels. You should know about its history, though (many tourists don’t know a thing about it until getting there), and learn about some examples of the types of books you can find there. I almost have to end the article here and give an exaggerated answer of “nearly everything ever written.”
Powell’s started as a rare situation of a son influencing his father rather than the son taking over the business from his father. The store even has some origins in Saul Bellow giving encouragement to its founder to open a used book store. Michael Powell decided to open this store in 1970 Chicago where he lived and was attending the University of Chicago. Apparently there weren’t many other used books stores in Chicago yet at the time and it became a huge success. However, the types of books Powell took in probably made a difference. He’d frequently only buy the most marketable books–plus stocking his shelf with more intellectual fare that the nearby university crowd appreciated getting a hold of when buying them new was more of an expense.
Back in Portland, Oregon (where Michael’s father Walter lived), the success of the Chicago bookstore made him curious how it worked, even though he was already retired as a painting contractor and not intending to get into business again. He went to live in Chicago for one summer and helped his son run his thriving business for one summer. In a strange “like son, like father” situation–Walter Powell went back home to Portland and opened his own used book store. Whatever he learned at his son’s store in Chicago, he ultimately did something completely different in his own store that would be one of the most brilliant ideas in bookselling and be endlessly copied by others later…
Mixing the old with the new…
If you have to operate your used bookstore in a seedy neighborhood (as Walter Powell had to do in the beginning in Portland)–then you better have a good business plan to get people into your doors before they’re mugged. Well, the street wasn’t that bad (and still isn’t), but Powell, Sr. had the simple business idea to not only buy used books–but also bring in new books. In this case, it’d be the psychological buying ploy of having the new books in the front of the store, and then put the used ones in the back. His son was initially perplexed at combining new and used books due to dealing strictly with the used market. When they decided to combine forces, though, a super business plan was born. Not only would the philosophy of selling old and new books hold–Powell’s Books would also build a warehouse collection of used academic books that you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else.
The other innovative (yet simple) business plan was to hire people who were well-read and had actual knowledge where everything was. No more would you get a “sorry, I’m new here” type of store employee when asking where a certain section is. And Powell’s would have to hire as many knowledgeable staff as they could get, because once son and father Powell joined forces in 1979, the place grew exponentially. By the late 1980’s, the building held hundreds of thousands of rare books that were extremely hard to find anywhere else in the country. When they started getting a stellar reputation in other parts of the country when academics back east could find a rare, first-edition copy of a college-level book–it became one of the must-see attractions when visiting Portland, Oregon.
Once the store became impossible to navigate without having a map (I kid not)–Powell invented just that–and made each section a certain color since color codes are almost always workable…unless you’re color blind. These maps broke it all down so you could never get lost if you followed the directions. Still, many get lost anyway in all the corridors of this store (including myself in my past visits), which is part of the fun. If you ever imagined a utopia where there’s nothing but books as far as the eye can see (and shelves going to the high ceilings where you can’t even reach some of the books)–this is it.
The hidden “Rare Book Room” and what you can potentially find at Powell’s…
One of my wishes has been to go inside and see the Rare Book Room at Powell’s Books, even though they only let a certain few inside who have intention of buying one of the rare and expensive books stored there. Just how rare are some of the books? How about the only known first-edition copy of a book printing Lewis & Clark’s travel diaries published in the early 1800’s. A signed copy of “Candide” by Voltaire and a complete first-edition set of Gibbons’ “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” are just a couple more of many, many rare books that can’t be found very many other places in the world. In fact, they possess signed and rare copies of just about every known classic book and author from the 1800’s…with the only thing missing being a first-edition copy of the complete works of Shakespeare signed by The Bard himself.
If you can’t get into the Rare Book Room, you can still find ten-tons of rare used books in the back part of the store that winds back seemingly for miles (an optical illusion). I was able to find some rare music theory books there once at a decent price and which had been out of print for years. If you don’t care what the book looks like (and many of the used copies are non-mint hardbacks), most of those out of print academic books go for under $10 depending on its size.
I guarantee you’ll never be able to get to every section in one visit–so plan to just peruse in your favorite section for most of the day or just go back a couple of times during the week if you’re visiting Portland.
How Powell’s could even outlast Amazon.com…
Not many people know that Powell’s was one of the first booksellers to go online in 1994. Amazon likes to tout that they were the first major bookseller online, but now you know they weren’t. In fact, Powell’s online store does as much or more business as Amazon’s book sales now from all around the world. While Amazon offers outside sellers to sell used books through the Amazon site (something risky to do when buying from a seller not directly associated with Amazon.com)–Powell’s used books are more substantial and can be shipped directly from their store. Fortunately, Powell’s has expanded into multiple stores all around the Portland area (some related to book subjects)–including a general store at the Portland International Airport.
Well, yeah, you couldn’t expect one store to bust at the seams, could you?
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In a shaky American economy–Powell’s is amazing in keeping alive based merely on great customer service and having things nobody else has. It isn’t out of the question that once all book stores fold up in time from a Pac-Man type of economy in this country, Powell’s may be one of the last ones standing. Sure, they may have to duke it out someday with Amazon.com as their only competitor–but I get the feeling the one with the most books will win…
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You can find the original store location in downtown Portland at 1005 W. Burnside, though go to their website to see the locations of all their other stores around the city…
Powells.com
