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After months of remaining shuttered, Powell's is reopening—one of its locations, anyway.
This Friday, the bookstore's outpost at Cedar Hills Crossing will reopen its doors for the first time since March. The store will have limited hours Wednesday through Sunday, and masks will be required for staff and shoppers in accordance with state guidelines.
"We believe we can open the store while keeping employees and customers safe," CEO Emily Powell said in a press release. "We also believe our Cedar Hills store has the best chance of covering its expenses and meeting the critical goal of bringing in additional revenue to support Powell's operations."
All other locations, including its iconic multistory West Burnside Street location, will remain closed until further notice.
The reopening is somewhat of a surprise. Only a few weeks ago, Powell wrote in a public letter that the company did not plan to reopen anytime soon.
The last few months have been visibly turbulent for Powell's.
In March, a few days after the company indefinitely closed all of its locations, Powell's laid off most of its employees, a decision that garnered criticism from International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 5 and was followed by the creation of the Instagram account Powell's City of Crooks, which skewers the company's history and business practices. And last week, the bookstore closed its airport store and kiosk for good.
