10/23/09

You could spend an entire day in Powell's!

by HauteShopper

What a fabulous bookstore. You can find virtually any book you've been looking for and more.

I never leave Powell's without overspending.

• Pros: Everything you want
• Cons: Too much to choose from!

09/23/09

Paradise!

by Patter

I'm a book lover and I love this place. Best selection of anything and everything I could ever want! Great place to grab a book, some coffee and hang out. Perfect if you're checking out downtown and want to walk there. Driving is a little less wonderful, but any traffic or parking issues are worth it. I love that place!!!

• Pros: books, books and more books
• Cons: it's perfect. there are no cons!

05/07/09

Coolest bookstore ever

by PDXCHICK

Powell's is the best. It's four stories, and has every book you could ever want. We could spend hours looking around in there. They also have a "rare book room" with books from the 1500s and earlier, rare books, etc. Very neat. Highly recommended to pop in there with out of town guests and check it out.

• Pros: You'll find any book here
• Cons: Parking stinks

08/28/08

Selection!

by adam251

Insanely huge selection....I can get lost in this place for hours, and I do. Prices are retail...sometimes discounted. Have always had a good experience. Sometimes it can get hectic at choke points where it gets crowded...and I think a lot of people just come in to use the bathroom because I have seen some LONG lines there. Best overall bookstore in town.

08/06/08

Independent Bookstore. Whose prices are twice as expensive as anywhere. 1 in a 1000 are used.

by j2stinwill

great selection, but might as well go to amazon and pay a 1/4th the price.

hardly any used books, and they might only save $2 over the new price.

Great selection though.

05/31/08

A really fun place and a great slection

by Trent0090

OK, so I have been reading the reviews about how the staff is rude; to be honest I have been going there for years. I have only come across friendly people there.

Though as someone who does work retail I have noticed over the years their is a growing trend that customers think they should be treated like royalty. Before you think it no I do not work at Powell's. To me, as long as someone is not rude to my face I have never cared. I don't know maybe I'm weird I go to a store to buy something not bond with wage slaves. Sorry for the long rant, I just can't stand people who think that a store should think it's such a great honor that you spend your money there.

• Pros: Slection, staff, just a fun place
• Cons: none really I have never had a issue with them

05/18/08

Arrogant, Nasty Employees

by AlexSmart

This place is a haven for haughty, hateful hipsters... they work here. You know: the arrogant, mean-spirited overflow from Reed College in the southest quadrant of the city.

If you like books, this is a great place to visit. But the problem is the attitude of the employees... it completely overshadows the rest of the experience and makes it completely uncomfortable. They do everything they can to make you feel inferior, all so they can feed their insatiable, wanna-be-French-sophisticates, egos.

If you like the experience of sneering, pretentious nastiness AND books, all in the same store, shop here. But if you're an actual, self-respecting human being who just wants books AND to come away still feeling halfway decent about yourself, go visit Borders or Barnes & Noble instead.

• Pros: Just the books, but bookstores abound.
• Cons: Awful, terrible, miserable employees

02/24/08

Great selection, Overpriced

by shhambo

Powell's touts itself as a used bookstore. In reality, maybe 1 in 50 books are used and the used books cost the same as the new books. The selection is great, and it is a blast to peruse the shelves for hours on end. But if you want to find a bargain, find it elsewhere. I usually find the books I want by going to Powell's then go online to buy them. In short this place is priced for tourists with fat wallets.

I have to say, I miss musty used bookstores with shelves and shelves of roughly organized books for a good bargain. If you're ever in Eugene, go to Smith Family Bookstore. That place is book love.

• Pros: Great Selection
• Cons: No Bargains Here

12/08/07

Highly recommend!

by kerrilyn

Although I hate driving downtown I love the Powell's on Burnside. They have their own parking garage and have the largest selection of books I have ever seen. Also, every year around the holidays I trade in my used books for Christmas presents (books, gift cards, gifts). They really do have something for everyone. I have found the staff very helpful.

• Pros: I love the downtown store!
• Cons: Hawthorne: someone always hits you up for money outside and line is in doorway.

09/25/07

Not everyone in Portland loves Powell's

by rutdog

Sure, I love the selection, but at the main store they are have always been rude and obnoxious. This is NOT representative of PDX. The Hawthorne store employees are much friendlier and helfpul than those at the main Burnside City of Books. So, leave Burnside for the tourists and locals stick with Hawthorne.

• Pros: Selection
• Cons: Bad Attitude