Powell's City of Books is a book lover's paradise, the largest used and new bookstore in the world. Located in downtown Portland, Oregon and occupying an entire city block, the City stocks more than a million new and used books. Nine color coded rooms house over 3,500 different sections, offering something for every interest, including an incredible selection of out-of-print and hard-to-find titles.
Be sure to grab a map – the store takes up an entire city block and it’s easy to get lost among 1 million books.
Whenever I decide to go into the city, I need to figure out if it's a "portland" trip or a POWELL's trip...if it's the latter, I know I will stay there all day. There is so much to see and buy. Plenty of great gift items in addition to books, books and more books! Magazine section is pretty extensive, too.
I like to look through the stacks while having a coffee...especially on a rainy day! If you can't find what you want on the shelves, the clerks are very good about helping you put in an order for it. There are several branches located throughout the city, but my favorites are the main store dowtown and also at PDX airport.
Keywords: Books / Magazines, All year, Hip and trendy, Local products, Huge selection, Unique, Great bargains, Shopping
In almost any city in which I find myself, I always check out the local bookstores, and Powell's City of Books in Portland is the best by far. (That includes places like The Tattered Cover in Denver, and The Strand in NYC.) They have maps at the door to guide you around, as the place is immense. A nice feature is that new and used books are side by side, so you have the option of finding the same book at a cheaper price if you wish. A true book love can spend days in here and barely scratch the surface. Their other store on Hawthorne, while much smaller, is worth a visit as well.
Keywords: Books / Magazines, All year, Huge selection, Unique, Great bargains
Recognized as the largest independent bookstore in the world, Powell’s spans a full city block and rises three stories to house its selection of 1 million new, used and out-of-print titles.
Michael Smith is the vice president of convention sales for Travel Portland, the convention and visitors bureau of Portland. For more information on planning a sustainable meeting, visit the Green Meetings Toolkit.
Keywords: Any time of the day, All year, Hip and trendy, Local products, Huge selection, Unique, Great bargains, Shopping