July 11, 2003
Into The Great Northwest
Yes, that's a church. Once, it was a Presbyterian church. More recently, it's previous tenant was the Psychic Institute (which "teaches techniques which help people tune into themselves as spirit and their psychic abilities") of the Church of Divine Man.
Now it's the new home of the Great Northwest Bookstore, formerly of SW Stark Street.
This fact is relevant to the drop in posting activity here, since I've spent the past two days at their new location, unpacking boxes and shelving books.
Portions of the inside of the old church feel like a maze, with quick alternating turns and sudden doors. It's certainly the type of building that feels like, in a proper world, it would be haunted.
It's a vaguely surreal experience, watching a bookstore gradually come together. It's also somewhat surreal how quickly ten hours can pass while your shelving entire sections -- I spent a significant portion of yesterday shelving Film, with new unopened boxes seeming to randomly appear around every corner just as I thought I had finished.
It occurred to me yesterday that it's new location, at SW 1st and Gibbs, is more or less beneath where the aerial tram to OHSU will run, once constructed. For now, all you see in the air is the massive helicopter than ocassionally flies in and out of the hospital.
Next week, more shelving. Fortunately, my Communique calendar doesn't appear to have anything lined up for next week until Friday's appearance at Powell's by Chuck Palahniuk -- which means I'll mainly just be following the news here, rather than getting out to do original work.
For what it's worth: When it re-opens, as I understand it, the bookstore will no longer be a walk-in business. Online sales and visits by appointment only.
