A Skeptic’s Journey into the Largest Independent Bookstore in the World
Powell’s City of Book’s in Portland, Oregon, is the largest independent bookstore in the world, taking up an entire city block, scaling four stories high and housing over one million books. With such an extensive flagship location and four other locations to compliment it, how can Powell’s operate as a true independent bookstore?
Anyone that has been to Powell’s City of Books in Portland knows that it is far from an ordinary book store experience. And when I visited back in March, I knew this from the start.The imposing size of the building is daunting enough, but having to use a map to navigate the store is unfathomable.
Moving from colored-coded room to color-coded room, I thought to myself, How can this place claim to be an independent bookstore? At the very least, it must be run like a Barnes & Noble, with publishers pitching themselves for a place on the “Staff Picks” and “Best Sellers” shelves for a cut.
The other customers in the store seemed overjoyed to be perusing the display tables, picking up every third book that was ‘recommended’ to them. And while I was doing the same exact thing, I had wondered what felt so different about this bookstore compared to others I went to, besides the imposing 68,000 square feet.
I looked to the shelves for an indication, until quickly I got one: I noticed that on every table, every surface, a little card was sticking out with “Staff Pick” written in fun colors across it.
It wasn’t the color in which it was written or even the handwriting, but the frequency of the cards around the store. I started to feel that maybe the Staff Picks weren’t genuine and the reason there were so many was because Powell’s was getting their own large cut to promote certain books. That would be something a self-proclaimed independent bookstore wouldn’t be doing. I started to speculate about the color-coded rooms and their intentions. Maybe it went further than organization by genre, instead, each room was sponsored by a high-paying publisher in order to properly play out an inventive marketing plan.
My curiosity started with the Staff Picks but moved to other places the further I delved into the store. I figured with its enormous flagship location, four neighborhood locations, and its online inventory, Powell’s was playing out something the customers weren’t seeing. In my mind, Powell’s offered customers a truly unique independent-bookstore-tourist-experience, but in reality, it was a money scheme just like any corporation.
You could say that I was skeptical, but I was more than just skeptical. I was curious, inspired and impressed, and I felt it necessary to find out how this establishment, with its millions of books, could claim to be an independent bookstore. And so my skepticism turned out to be a good thing, because it inspired me to investigate the inner workings of Powell’s further.
The Quest into the City of Books
My investigation started somewhat impulsively as I started to film in the store: the different rooms, the genres, the signs leading which way to go, everything but the people. I started asking employees questions, but it became obvious that they weren’t at liberty to answer anything too specific. One employee told me how a large portion of the store’s customers are from out of town and even international. Another told me that Powell’s is the second most popular tourist attraction in Portland, an assertion that I could not confirm. And while these facts were interesting and new to me, they didn’t do much to satiate my curiosity about the books in Powell’s and how each selection ends up on the display tables.
Then, two employees helped me out and pointed me in the right direction. “On this bookmark are some phone numbers you can call,” one said, “They will answer your questions.”
Before I knew it, I had spent almost two hours in the store, both enjoying the experience and hounding my mind with theories. So I made my way to the Green Room, (also the only room on the map with dollar signs), and snaked through a line as long as the first line to get into the store. I felt hyper-observant while I was there, taking in everything with wide eyes. Some customers were purchasing books and others were purchasing merchandise with Powell’s branded across the front.
I looked down at my collection of things and chuckled to myself: a Powell’s canvas tote bag, some new stickers and a brand new book. I was just as impressed by Powell’s as everyone else was, but I was also determined to find out more about the business.
When I arrived home from Oregon a few days later, I got in contact with Emily Brodowicz, the marketing coordinator for Powell’s City of Books.
Before earning her title as the marketing coordinator at the flagship location two years ago, Emily worked as a book seller for Powell’s in 2013. She left in 2016 for grad school and worked in publishing during that time. Publishers are responsible for more than just printing and selling books; they oversee the entire process of bringing books to the market including author selection, manuscript editing, promotion, distribution, and financial management as well.
With this in mind, it was safe to say that Emily was a valuable resource for me in my quest.
Only three minutes into our zoom call, I asked the most prevalent question on my mind: “Are the staff picks in Powell’s genuine or do publishers pay the bookstore to rent out shelf space?”
Almost immediately, Emily informed me that all my conspiracy theories about Powell’s were inaccurate. Powell’s markets itself as an independent bookstore, because it is one — just on a larger scale.
Powell’s doesn’t get paid to showcase certain books in the front of the store or in other desirable locations like the ‘Best Sellers’ or ‘Staff Picks’ sections. Therefore, everything the customers see is arranged based on the staff’s genuine interest or predictions for what stories the customers will like best.
She also informed that a lot of the time, the staff will receive advanced reader copies, also known as ARCs, that allow them to read books even up to a full year ahead of the release date. If the staff then thinks that customers will enjoy the book or that it will be a bestseller, it ends up on those display tables.
“People can recommend whatever they want and we are completely open to having them write about whatever book they want,” she said, “There is no limit…[but] if it’s out of stock and we can’t get a hold of it, that’s the only time it would present an issue.”
This is one of the key factors that makes Powell’s a true independent bookstore, unlike a Barnes & Noble. At big corporate-run chains, everything is about the numbers. So to get into the Barnes & Noble showroom, the extremely coveted front room with all the displays, publishers must pay a big fee or their book will not be showcased. This indicates that B&N is not concerned about the content of the books at all, just whoever is going to benefit them the most financially.
According to the Publishers Lunch, a reputable publishing marketplace, Barnes & Noble might not only be charging for the traditional co-op fee (which allows books to be on displays such as New Releases or Holiday etc.), but also for allowing books to have any shelf space at all. This means authors and publishers have to pay the bookstore money just to have their spine facing outward among thousands of other titles.
Learning that the employees at Powell’s put time and consideration into their book buys and recommendations made me even more impressed by the establishment.
And while all this information was humbling, it was not sufficient. I knew that I had yet to explore all of my questions regarding Powell’s ability to maintain itself as an independent bookstore, especially during a pandemic.
Powell’s versus the Pandemic
Emily recalled the alarming week in March when all businesses closed in one sweep across the nation. Powell’s temporarily closed all five of its locations in Portland and laid off the vast majority of its employees. The CEO, Emily Powell, refused to disclose the exact number of employees laid off, however, roughly 85% of the company’s unionized workforce were terminated.
Michelle Alfonso, the human resources director, wrote to employees regarding this labor relations issue. “Powell’s needs to take immediate steps to scale back the company,” she said, “If sales continue to decrease in the future, we will need to take further action.”
Hundreds of employees were out of a job in a matter of days — their health benefits leaving with their employment.
Employees were unaware if their jobs would be reinstated during or after the pandemic. Luckily, one thing was able to save all of the locations, including the hundreds of employees within it- the online store.
Because of online operations, “…there was a huge outpouring of support from the community and they placed so many orders that they were able to bring a lot of the folks back to fulfill online orders” Brodowicz said.
These numbers were not disclosed due to the privacy policies of the company, but Emily assured me that the numbers surged during the pandemic.
Once employees were hired back, Powell’s moved to online only and operated this way until August 21 2020, five months after the original closing of their stores.
When Powell’s reopened its stores in August, they were regulated at 17% capacity which is far below the CDC guidelines. Today, Powell’s maintains all five of their locations at this capacity and has implemented several safety measures such as plexiglass at the cash registers to keep the employees and customers safe. They also monitor all the people that come in and out of the building, which usually creates a long line wrapping around the building.
When I was there, the organization and social distancing efforts were some of the first things I noticed, which is part of the reason I keep referring to Powell’s as a “well-oiled-machine.” The entire shopping experience felt very safe, yet factory-like, something I wouldn’t have expected from an independent bookstore.
But as I was learning through my interview with Emily and through research of my own, I had truly underestimated Powell’s as a company. When I visited, I was impressed by the inventory because I had never seen so many books in one place in my life. But when I saw the sheer amount of recommendations, leaving virtually no room for the readers’ imagination, it became obvious the influence Powell’s had over its readers. Because of this, I had become instantly skeptical of the company’s values, leading me to question if it was any different than Barnes & Noble or even Amazon.
“We were actually online before Amazon, but then, we’re a much smaller company”, said Brodowicz.
Calling Powell’s a small company with its five locations and online store seemed a bit ironic to me, but I realized that Emily wasn’t only referring to the size. Emily had opened my mind to see that Powell’s holds the values of any other local business, especially when it comes to the customers.
Master of Two Worlds
In addition to offering an outstanding in-person experience and virtual experience to its customers, Powell’s also gives back to the community. The bookshop is running a used book drive out of its warehouse with proceeds from the book drive benefiting non-profit organizations. In addition, this drive will help bring a larger used inventory into Powell’s locations, which helps satisfy more customer needs when buying books.
They have also worked with 8–10 charities during the pandemic, raising 20,000 dollars for the first charity alone. The employees at Powell’s hope to continue community outreach as long as customers and local nonprofits are interested.
“As far as the company goes, we really don’t have any agenda as far as the books we buy, it’s just making sure what the community wants is there.” Emily said.
A Skeptic no More
There was no doubt that I was impressed by the establishment when I first visited. The employees were knowledgeable and kind, the shopping experience felt COVID safe, and for lack of better words, Powell’s was the coolest bookstore I have ever been to (and I’ve been to a lot). However, as a journalist, I have always learned to question and then question some more.
I am glad that I chose to be inquisitive of the business because if I hadn’t I could have never learned that independent bookstores like this exist.
Bookstores aren’t a thing of the past like so many people think. This mindset has been fed to us by corporations like Amazon that want a slice of every pie. As consumers, we need to remind ourselves that we are always buying more than just the book, our dollars are powerful.
Sometimes shopping local is more expensive and inconvenient than buying something online — trust me I know. But when we support our local businesses (even those that are a huge tourist attraction), we are supporting our community. I encourage you to be curious and to pop into the local bookshops in your neighborhoods whenever you get the chance because you never know what you might find.
Reporting and writing done by Karina Dominguez for the Reno-Tahoe Business Report: Weekend Getaway edition.
