We asked and, boy, did you deliver: So many of you wrote in to share your Powell’s love stories with us that we couldn’t resist putting together a tribute to the real-life romances that grace the City of Books. These wonderful anecdotes are a great reminder that some of the best stories occur off the page.
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“As a temporary cashier one holiday season, a very cute fellow cashier asked me out… and proceeded to ghost me WHILE WE STILL WORKED TOGETHER.”
“I asked her out for the first time in the mystery aisle... 20 years ago. Now we take our kids shopping at Powell's every time we come to Portland."
“When we were in high school, my boyfriend Andrew and I went on a Valentine’s Day date to Powell’s and spent 30 minutes picking out books we thought the other person would like. We each then chose our favorite book from the other person’s pile and bought it as a gift. That was seven years ago and we’re still together now!”
“My girlfriend and I had our first kiss in the birding aisle!”
“‘I'll take you to Powell's,’ he decided. ‘What's that?’ I asked. ‘You'll see,’ he replied mysteriously. As we got out of the car, I saw the fortress called Powell's Books. I gasped with the realization that he might be the coolest guy I had ever met. ‘I know you like books,’ was all Dan said. We spent several hours perusing all the rooms and talking about our favorite books. I reveled in the Award-Winning Children's Books and he lingered near shelves of
Orson Scott Card. We lost track of time and ended up getting a parking ticket, but it was worth it. We have now been married for a year and a half, live in downtown Portland, and walk to Powell's regularly. It still contains all of the wonder of our first date, and will remain a special place to us forever.”
“Met a beautiful bookseller from the old Beaverton Powell's, fell madly in love, became a bookseller myself, and our lives and libraries became intertwined. Nearly 20 years, a few career changes, and two children later, there's no doubt the books and people of Powell's played key roles in our youthful and foundational ardor.”
“On New Year’s Eve [2018], we didn’t sign paperwork at Powell’s, but we did say our vows there. We actually put copies of our vows into a copy of
Hamlet (in 4.5), which is symbolic because we had our first kiss right after Carlie performed that scene. Powell’s seemed the most fitting place for us to remember the day by, as we experienced a lot of our love story at Powell’s.”
“In my day, I certainly spent hours in the café with books carefully selected to attract my ideal Other. Powell’s made fairly little money off of this behavior, though, and I wonder if you really want to encourage it.”
“My fiancé and I both have a love of books. When we were just friends and coworkers, talking about books is what brought us together as a couple. We have always loved Powell's, so naturally we decided to spend the whole day there on our first anniversary. We decided to make it a tradition, and went there again on our second anniversary, April 14, 2017... and he proposed to me amidst the aisles and stacks of books!”
“Spent hours in Powell’s with my best friend turned fiancé every time we visited Portland. He’s from Mexico City. I am from Idaho. We came all the way from Texas, where we were finishing our doctorates, to be married in the Rare Books Room on December 31, 2012. We just celebrated our fifth anniversary. Love you, Powell’s!”
“In 2013, my best friend introduced me to her brother. He was on leave, and we all spent a good amount of time together. He had never been to Powell's, but had always wanted to go, so we took a trip down there. Fast forward one and a half years, and he proposed to me upstairs in the botanical section. He tied a ring to a journal that chronicled our journey together so far, and asked me to continue it with him. Fast forward another two years, and we now have our first child, named Elwyn (after
E. B. White). We take her to Powell's on family outings as often as we can. It's one of her favorite places to be.”
“My boyfriend and I had our first date at Powell’s! We sat cross-legged on the floor of the children’s section and read each other our favorite books as kids. It was such a quiet and happy way to get to know someone, and here we are a year and a half later! We go to the Burnside location whenever we’re in Portland, but went again, specially, on our one year anniversary.”
“My partner and I spend Christmas evening at Powell’s! It is our annual tradition.”
“On our second date (which lasted hours) Jacob and I ended up perusing books at Powell's. When we both made our way to the same section, and started to pull books we loved off of the shelf, I knew he was someone I would come to love and appreciate. Fast forward: A few weeks ago, we snapped some engagement photos at Powell's and will be wed this summer.”
“We spent several hours wandering the City of Books separately, and then met up with a stack a books for each other (and some for ourselves too). Not necessarily a story about falling in love for the first time, but we've been buying books for each other ever since.”
“Powell’s played a big part in my love life. When I was seven years old, I visited Powell’s for the first time and fell in love. Books everywhere, filling a whole city block. Overwhelmed with this feeling that I could not describe, but later learned was love, I could not love anything in the same way I love Powell’s.”
“After a first movie date had somehow led to walking around a different, inferior bookstore, he was clever enough to propose Powell's as our second date. We were from Vancouver and I'd never heard of it. Even just walking in… was this reality? Could such a place exist? Be still, my bookish heart! We wandered. Sitting where the mystery novels used to be, I had my first kiss — it tasted like the café's blackberry Italian sodas. The relationship didn't last more than a date or two, but the memory stays sweet. Now, every once in a while, when I'm wandering the aisles on my own, I order another Italian soda to get to taste 10 years back. This is a true story and explains why I am EXTREMELY EMOTIONALLY INVESTED in y'all continuing to use Monin syrups.”
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Do you have a Powell’s love story you’d like to share? We’d like to hear it! Email us at [email protected].