Powell’s City of Books
Powell’s headquarters, called Powell’s City of Books, claims to be the world’s largest independent bookstore selling new and used books. City of Books is located in the Pearl District on the outskirts of downtown and occupies an entire block between NW 10th and 11th Avenues and between W. Burnside and NW Couch Streets. It covers more than 68,000 square feet (6,300 m2), approximately 1.6 acres of commercial space. CNN calls it one of the “coolest” bookstores in the world.
Covering an entire city block, Powell’s City of Books is more than just a great bookstore – it’s a microcosm of Portland, packed with smart, eclectic offerings and passionate people.
Founder Walter Powell first made the revolutionary decision to combine new, used, hardcover, and paperback books. This egalitarian approach means you can easily see anything by a favorite author and often get good grades for choosing one popular edition over a new one. Eins And in addition to the shelves above the bookshelves, there are also great gifts and souvenirs in the store.
It was also four times the size of a typical bookstore chain.
The City of Books had a new opening across from the Pearl District with the “Pillar of Books,” a sandstone carving from Tenino depicting a stack of eight of the world’s greatest books, on a plinth that read “Buy the book, read the book, enjoy.” the book, sell the book “in Latin. Powell sales for the year ended June 2000 were $ 41.8 million.
. It was the first round of layoffs since a union was formed. A union official said Powell’s cut its workforce by about 40 last year due to fluctuation but felt the layoffs were necessary due to the decline in new book sales and increases in healthcare costs.
In response to the COVID19 pandemic, Powell’s announced the closure of its five locations and the layoff of almost all employees in mid-March 2020. The letter released by CEO Emily Powell on March 17, 2020, stated the exact number of employees; however, approximately 85% of the company’s 400 unionized workforces have been laid off. More than 100 former employees were later hired back to meet a huge surge in online orders, but the union found that only 49 were represented by the union and the rest were managers who now did the front-line work that they normally do represents. Powell’s alleged that his right to return to his old jobs had expired and that no agreement had been made between Powell and the union on the former maintenance of those rights (and the maintenance of the previous wage level). Most of the employees hired were former employees.