Powell’s, simply put, is arguably the most famous independent bookstore in America. “No one has done it the way Powell’s has done it,” said Books & Books owner Mitchell Kaplan to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The paper profiled the store as 65-year-old founder Michael Powell recently announced he is handing the business over to his 27-year-old daughter Emily – renewing the commitment to keep Powell’s an independent, family-run endeavor.
And as Powell’s moves to the next generation, it must keep pace with the big-box stores, online juggernauts and other potential threats. “I never had an end vision, I don’t have an end vision today,” Powell said. “What I had was a commitment to the process and the process is to let books find their right level of acceptance. And if that can be done with 4.5 million titles, great. If it takes 9 million titles, let’s get going.”
Denver’s The Tattered Cover faces similar and different challenges as it moves from its Cherry Creek digs to a renovated theater at East Colfax Avenue and Elizabeth Street beginning June 26, leading to a lengthy feature in Sunday’s Rocky Mountain News. And as long as the customers remain happy, owner Joyce Meskis believes Tattered Cover will weather any storms. “Change is a part of life, and we have continually made that part of our way of doing business,” Meskis said. “We have to serve the customer the very best way in all of what that means in any given moment of time, and deal with the forces around us, so that’s what we try to do.”