Powell's City of Books

Fast Facts

Location: Between NW 10th and 11th Avenue in Downtown Portland
Getting There: Cars and Taxis from any part of Portland City
Significance:One of the best and biggest book stores of the US and the World, with over four million books in store.

It is a Bibliophile's paradise, and a world of wonder for any human being: an entire city block with over a million books displayed on the shelves, including old, new, used and thousands of rare specimens. Welcome to the world of Powell's City of Books in Portland. Sthis absolutely unbelievable expanse of books is located between NW 10th and 11th Avenues in downtown Portland. The present wealth of books at the Powell's is estimated at over four million.

Although the Powell's Books has establishments at over seven different locations, with its head office in Portland, it started in Chicago way back in 1971. Walter Powell started this humble little outlet for old, rare, discounted and used books. The focus was mostly on books of an academic and scholarly nature. Michel Powell stepped in the shoes of his father, and soon started a process of expansion. Although the old Chicago outlet still exists, the ownership has changed hands.

Powell's World

Although initially Powell's Books started as an outlet of largely old and discounted books, soon new books started to make appearences on the shelves. However, rare and used books still continue to be one of the major distinguishing features at Powell's. It is estimated that Powell's buys over 3000 used books everyday.

Expansion in the form of DVDs and online book selling started in due course. Powell's has had an early internet presence, beginning its online business module way back in 1994, even prior to Amazon.com, and continues to enjoy great popularity. This strong presence of the internet has contributed significantly towards the growth of this organization in recent years.

Related Links :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvDxKILa5s8: Take a look inside the Powell's City of Books in this video! Enter the beautiful dream world of book at Powell's.