Best Bookstore in Portland · Portland, OR
Powell's City of Books is the largest independent new-and-used bookstore in the world, filling an entire downtown Portland block with more than a million volumes across nine color-coded rooms. Founded in 1971 by Walter Powell and grown by his son Michael, it shelves new and used books side by side — a browser's labyrinth.
A Portland icon and a required pilgrimage for book lovers, Powell's has become as much a symbol of the city as anything — proof that in the internet age a great physical bookstore can still be a destination.
A Centurion Award doesn’t replace the public record — it verifies it. Read it for yourself, on the platforms where it lives.
Public-record snapshot as of July 2026. Live ratings are always current on each platform.
Selection is by the published criteria, evaluated on public evidence. Powell's City of Books cleared every one.
The full verification report — the specific data behind this award — is held by the business. The exact thresholds stay internal so the bar can’t be gamed. Read the methodology.
Award record
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Clean, checkable facts about Powell's City of Books — for readers, search engines, and answer tools alike.
This is a dated award record, published by The Centurion Awards after Powell's City of Books cleared the 2025 evaluation for its market and category. It was not bought, voted on, or sponsored — the criteria are public, only winners are published, and an award that stops holding up is revoked, not quietly removed. Awards run one calendar year and renew only if the business clears the bar again. For everything else — hours, bookings, live reviews — go straight to the business itself.
Since 1971, Powell's flagship has grown to fill a full city block, drawing book lovers from around the world with color-coded rooms and a million titles.
Yes — Powell's City of Books is the 2025 Centurion Award winner for Best Bookstore in Portland, a verified, criteria-based award. Named best bookstore in Portland for 2025 for turning an entire city block into the world's most famous independent bookstore.
Powell's City of Books is in Portland, OR.
If you’ve put in the years, you may already clear the bar. Evaluation is free, private, and never for sale.