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Sounds like the WBB was to Toronto what Powell’s is to Portland. Are there other bookstores like this around the world? Let’s hope some of them can survive and

Sounds like the WBB was to Toronto what Powell’s is to Portland. Are there other bookstores like this around the world? Let’s hope some of them can survive and thrive.

ghaff 2y ago
Probably the Strand in NY qualifies. Although it's probably mostly small niche indies (and some a bit bigger) that are the most interesting other than the big outliers.
- mihaic 2y ago
  I live in Romania, and Strand is one of the places I revisit absolutely every single time I'm in NY.
no_wizard 2y ago
Powell's original location in Portland is nothing short of amazing. Its a multi story bookstore that is well organized and easy to browse, its really quite an experience for any who may describe themselves as a 'book lover' or 'book connoisseur'. Its really an enjoyable experience.
- darknavi 2y ago
  Powell's is a must-stop when ever we drive through Portland. Such a fun place to explore and nab a few books.
- selimthegrim 2y ago
  The dearly departed technical bookstore was only equalled by Berkeley
- throwup238 2y ago
  The top floor also has a rare books room that is a joy to browse. Last time I went there was only two items they wouldn't let me take out and peruse: the Lewis and Clark journals worth half a million that they kept off site and a 600 year old Italian manuscript.
insane_dreamer 2y ago
Powells is amazing! We love taking the kids there, browsing, picking up some new books, and all four of us reading in the cafe.
mturmon 2y ago
the Last Bookstore in LA: https://www.lastbookstorela.com https://www.lastbookstorela.com
- oldmanhorton 2y ago
  Strong disagree. So much space dedicated to touristy pictures that could be used for books instead. Very poorly laid out and hard to get around all of the people taking selfies, and even once you do I found their book selection to be lackluster (at least for historical non-fiction)
  - solomonb 2y ago
    I agree, it really doesn't have very many books.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
entropicdrifter 2y ago
Baltimore used to have a really cool Barnes and Noble in a former power plant building. Place closed back in 2020.
- Breza 2y ago
  That place was great! I have to say that Baltimore has gotten better overall over the past decade or two, but I do miss the Inner Harbor B&N.
garciansmith 2y ago
John K. King Used & Rare Books in Detroit. Four stories of used books housed in an old glove factory (plus an adjacent building with their rare stuff, art annex, and storage, though that's by appointment only). Definitely worth a visit! (Full disclosure: I worked there for many years.) https://www.johnkingbooksdetroit.com/browse https://www.johnkingbooksdetroit.com/browse
CalChris 2y ago
Powell's is pretty cool. San Francisco has Green Apple and Berkeley has Moe's. OpAmp in LA was awesome, sadly in the past tense.
- mc32 2y ago
  Green apple over on Clement is a fire hazard. The other one is small.
kd5bjo 2y ago
There's the Tattered Cover in Denver, but it's apparently in the middle of bankruptcy right now-- might not last much longer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattered_Cover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattered_Cover
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  No!! I love Tattered Cover, I have been going out of my way to purchase books there ever since I moved to the Denver area. I'm super bummed to find out they are struggling that much. Hopefully they are able to keep the dream alive!
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
solomonb 2y ago
Moe's Books in Berkeley.
reaperducer 2y ago
Are there other bookstores like this around the world? Let’s hope some of them can survive and thrive. I've come to deduce that the death of bookstores is nothing more than a trope pushed by tech fetishists. Last Thursday evening, I sat in the cafe of a chain bookstore in a major American city while my wife was browsing, and counted the people. There were close to 70 in my field of view, and in the 40ish minutes I sat there, over 100 people came in. The line at the checkout never had fewer than five people in it, and often more than a dozen. A couple of weeks ago, I drove past my local bookstore (also a big chain) before it opened, and there was dozens and dozens of people waiting in line to get in. Books aren't dead. Reading isn't dead. Acknowledging that there are people who enjoy different things than you do is dead.
- garciansmith 2y ago
  I don't think it's just techies who believe that (although plenty do, for sure!). Lots of regular non-techie people think only old people care about books, for instance. When I worked at a used bookstore (left just before COVID), family members would make comments like that and seemed surprised when I told them we had tons of people in their teens and 20s coming in and buying books (used and old ones at that!). It is true that the bookstore business has faced a lot of downturns: indie bookstores were really hurt by the big chain stores, Barnes & Nobles and Borders in the '90s, then Amazon and online shopping hurt them all some more. But the indie scene is stronger than it was, say, 15 years ago. A lot more smaller and niche shops have been opening up (at least in US cities I'm familiar with).
- glitcher 2y ago
  It's probably a mistake to arrive at a conclusion in either direction based solely on anecdotal evidence. Unless the conclusion is specifically just for one localized area being observed, as opposed to extending those conclusions to all bookstores everywhere.
- cafard 2y ago
  I don't know. I can name a number of booksellers in Washington that have gone under in the last 30 or 35 years: Olsson's, Trover, Newman, Calliope. Reiter's Technical Books is a shadow of what it once was. At the moment, I would have to go to Arlington for a Barnes and Noble: two in DC closed for reasons I never heard. One in Bethesda that was always pretty busy closed because the landlord wanted it out. I worry about the condition of bookstores. I hope I'm wrong to do so. I'm always
briffle 2y ago
according to this article, Powells is larger than the one in the article by many thousand SQ feet, but maybe they were measuring it by.. Oh: Opened in 1980 in the former Olympia Bowling Alley building, the World’s Biggest Bookstore may not, in fact, have been the world’s biggest bookstore. It was a marketing gambit by Jack Cole, who owned Coles and SmithBooks, and thought “a massive bookstore would do well for Toronto,” as his son David told the National Post in 2014. He paid a reported $2.4 million for the property
FireBeyond 2y ago
It's also arguable that Powell's is bigger. They mention 68,000 sq ft, while this one in Toronto was 64,000.
- vidarh 2y ago
  Waterstones in Picadilly in London is in a 90,000 sq ft building, but I'm not sure if all of it is used for the book store (abd even within the book store I guess it depends if you count onky public spaces, and if you include thr cafes etc.. They claim 200k titles.
tkgally 2y ago
The Kanda-Jimbocho area of Tokyo has over a hundred bookstores within a few blocks [1]. Aside from a few years during the pandemic, I've been buying books there regularly for four decades. The neighborhood has evolved over time, and some large stores that stocked only new books have closed. But the market for used and antiquarian books must be strong, as many of the old stores are still in business and quite a few new ones have opened in recent years. Most of the books are in Japanese, and the neighborhood, despite being centrally located, doesn't attract many foreign tourists. [1] https://en.jimbou.info/ https://en.jimbou.info/
jt2190 2y ago
> Sounds like the WBB was to Toronto what Powell’s is to Portland Absolutely not. The place was pretty much windowless, with large piles of mainstream books from major publishers.
ralferoo 2y ago
When I was a young teenager, Foyle's in London (near Tottenham Court Road) was an unbelievable sight to me. Apparently at one time it was in the Guinness Book of records as the world's biggest bookshop with its 30 miles of shelf length (by way of comparison, the article says the WBB was 17 miles). I've not been back for ages, only going once since I was a kid and it no longer seemed as magical. It's apparently moved a few doors down the road, so I guess the store is a bit bigger now, but I certainly doubt it's anywhere close to being the world's largest anymore - I've been to several in China that are significantly bigger, e.g. Shenzhen Book City which has multiple branches in the same city and all of them are massive. The flagship one in Futian is basically an entire shopping mall with the bookshop at the centre and a few smaller shops and food stalls around the periphery.

Sounds like the WBB was to Toronto what Powell’s is to Portland. Are there other bookstores like this around the world? Let’s hope some of them can survive and thrive.

ghaff 2y ago

Probably the Strand in NY qualifies. Although it's probably mostly small niche indies (and some a bit bigger) that are the most interesting other than the big outliers.

mihaic 2y ago
I live in Romania, and Strand is one of the places I revisit absolutely every single time I'm in NY.

no_wizard 2y ago

Powell's original location in Portland is nothing short of amazing. Its a multi story bookstore that is well organized and easy to browse, its really quite an experience for any who may describe themselves as a 'book lover' or 'book connoisseur'. Its really an enjoyable experience.

darknavi 2y ago
Powell's is a must-stop when ever we drive through Portland. Such a fun place to explore and nab a few books.
selimthegrim 2y ago
The dearly departed technical bookstore was only equalled by Berkeley
throwup238 2y ago
The top floor also has a rare books room that is a joy to browse. Last time I went there was only two items they wouldn't let me take out and peruse: the Lewis and Clark journals worth half a million that they kept off site and a 600 year old Italian manuscript.

insane_dreamer 2y ago

Powells is amazing! We love taking the kids there, browsing, picking up some new books, and all four of us reading in the cafe.

mturmon 2y ago

the Last Bookstore in LA: https://www.lastbookstorela.com https://www.lastbookstorela.com

oldmanhorton 2y ago
Strong disagree. So much space dedicated to touristy pictures that could be used for books instead. Very poorly laid out and hard to get around all of the people taking selfies, and even once you do I found their book selection to be lackluster (at least for historical non-fiction)
- solomonb 2y ago
  I agree, it really doesn't have very many books.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

entropicdrifter 2y ago

Baltimore used to have a really cool Barnes and Noble in a former power plant building. Place closed back in 2020.

Breza 2y ago
That place was great! I have to say that Baltimore has gotten better overall over the past decade or two, but I do miss the Inner Harbor B&N.

garciansmith 2y ago

John K. King Used & Rare Books in Detroit. Four stories of used books housed in an old glove factory (plus an adjacent building with their rare stuff, art annex, and storage, though that's by appointment only). Definitely worth a visit! (Full disclosure: I worked there for many years.) https://www.johnkingbooksdetroit.com/browse https://www.johnkingbooksdetroit.com/browse

CalChris 2y ago

Powell's is pretty cool. San Francisco has Green Apple and Berkeley has Moe's. OpAmp in LA was awesome, sadly in the past tense.

mc32 2y ago
Green apple over on Clement is a fire hazard. The other one is small.

kd5bjo 2y ago

There's the Tattered Cover in Denver, but it's apparently in the middle of bankruptcy right now-- might not last much longer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattered_Cover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattered_Cover

bigstrat2003 2y ago
No!! I love Tattered Cover, I have been going out of my way to purchase books there ever since I moved to the Denver area. I'm super bummed to find out they are struggling that much. Hopefully they are able to keep the dream alive!

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

solomonb 2y ago

Moe's Books in Berkeley.

reaperducer 2y ago

Are there other bookstores like this around the world? Let’s hope some of them can survive and thrive. I've come to deduce that the death of bookstores is nothing more than a trope pushed by tech fetishists. Last Thursday evening, I sat in the cafe of a chain bookstore in a major American city while my wife was browsing, and counted the people. There were close to 70 in my field of view, and in the 40ish minutes I sat there, over 100 people came in. The line at the checkout never had fewer than five people in it, and often more than a dozen. A couple of weeks ago, I drove past my local bookstore (also a big chain) before it opened, and there was dozens and dozens of people waiting in line to get in. Books aren't dead. Reading isn't dead. Acknowledging that there are people who enjoy different things than you do is dead.

garciansmith 2y ago
I don't think it's just techies who believe that (although plenty do, for sure!). Lots of regular non-techie people think only old people care about books, for instance. When I worked at a used bookstore (left just before COVID), family members would make comments like that and seemed surprised when I told them we had tons of people in their teens and 20s coming in and buying books (used and old ones at that!). It is true that the bookstore business has faced a lot of downturns: indie bookstores were really hurt by the big chain stores, Barnes & Nobles and Borders in the '90s, then Amazon and online shopping hurt them all some more. But the indie scene is stronger than it was, say, 15 years ago. A lot more smaller and niche shops have been opening up (at least in US cities I'm familiar with).
glitcher 2y ago
It's probably a mistake to arrive at a conclusion in either direction based solely on anecdotal evidence. Unless the conclusion is specifically just for one localized area being observed, as opposed to extending those conclusions to all bookstores everywhere.
cafard 2y ago
I don't know. I can name a number of booksellers in Washington that have gone under in the last 30 or 35 years: Olsson's, Trover, Newman, Calliope. Reiter's Technical Books is a shadow of what it once was. At the moment, I would have to go to Arlington for a Barnes and Noble: two in DC closed for reasons I never heard. One in Bethesda that was always pretty busy closed because the landlord wanted it out. I worry about the condition of bookstores. I hope I'm wrong to do so. I'm always

briffle 2y ago

according to this article, Powells is larger than the one in the article by many thousand SQ feet, but maybe they were measuring it by.. Oh: Opened in 1980 in the former Olympia Bowling Alley building, the World’s Biggest Bookstore may not, in fact, have been the world’s biggest bookstore. It was a marketing gambit by Jack Cole, who owned Coles and SmithBooks, and thought “a massive bookstore would do well for Toronto,” as his son David told the National Post in 2014. He paid a reported $2.4 million for the property

FireBeyond 2y ago

It's also arguable that Powell's is bigger. They mention 68,000 sq ft, while this one in Toronto was 64,000.

vidarh 2y ago
Waterstones in Picadilly in London is in a 90,000 sq ft building, but I'm not sure if all of it is used for the book store (abd even within the book store I guess it depends if you count onky public spaces, and if you include thr cafes etc.. They claim 200k titles.

tkgally 2y ago

The Kanda-Jimbocho area of Tokyo has over a hundred bookstores within a few blocks [1]. Aside from a few years during the pandemic, I've been buying books there regularly for four decades. The neighborhood has evolved over time, and some large stores that stocked only new books have closed. But the market for used and antiquarian books must be strong, as many of the old stores are still in business and quite a few new ones have opened in recent years. Most of the books are in Japanese, and the neighborhood, despite being centrally located, doesn't attract many foreign tourists. [1] https://en.jimbou.info/ https://en.jimbou.info/

jt2190 2y ago

> Sounds like the WBB was to Toronto what Powell’s is to Portland Absolutely not. The place was pretty much windowless, with large piles of mainstream books from major publishers.

ralferoo 2y ago

When I was a young teenager, Foyle's in London (near Tottenham Court Road) was an unbelievable sight to me. Apparently at one time it was in the Guinness Book of records as the world's biggest bookshop with its 30 miles of shelf length (by way of comparison, the article says the WBB was 17 miles). I've not been back for ages, only going once since I was a kid and it no longer seemed as magical. It's apparently moved a few doors down the road, so I guess the store is a bit bigger now, but I certainly doubt it's anywhere close to being the world's largest anymore - I've been to several in China that are significantly bigger, e.g. Shenzhen Book City which has multiple branches in the same city and all of them are massive. The flagship one in Futian is basically an entire shopping mall with the bookshop at the centre and a few smaller shops and food stalls around the periphery.