Powell's may not be the big dog when it comes to books, but its dog-eared volumes keep it near the front of the pack. The book retailer maintains more than a handful of stores in the Portland, Oregon, area including its flagship City of Books store, which covers a city block and contains more than 1 million volumes. It sells new, used, out-of-print, and rare books; it even sells books that are returned to online bookseller Amazon.com. The company operates specialty stores for cookbooks and gardening, technical books, and travel books; it also features author readings and book discussion groups and sells books online. President Michael Powell, whose father, Walter, opened City of Books in 1971, owns the firm.