The Oregonian reported last week out of Condon, in the north central part of the state, on the Washington state line about a Powell's Books location in this small Oregon town. The headline is "How a Powell’s Books outpost ended up in Condon, population 760." Here's an excerpt:
The Powell’s outpost more than 150 miles from the famous City of Books can be found at the rear of the Condon Local, a retail store, coffee shop and cafe in the tiny downtown of Gilliam’s county seat.
But the name Condon Local is a recent change. For 34 years, the shop was known as Country Flowers and owned by Darla Seale.
Condon can thank her for the bookstore.
“The idea of being in Condon appealed to me,” Powell said, “but mainly it was Darla’s personality that made it happen.”
In 1988, Seal and her husband purchased the 1905-built Reisacher Building in downtown Condon for her growing floral business. They bought it for $10,000, then spent another $50,000 restoring the original wood floors, opening up the 16-foot ceilings and “uncovering all of the hidden treasures of the building.”
Country Flowers soon expanded to sell an assortment of knickknacks, kitchenware, clothing and greeting cards. Seale also added a soda fountain and deli counter. Hers was the first cafe in the county to get an espresso machine.
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Around the time of the first espresso machine, Powell discovered the store. He had purchased vacation property in the neighboring community of Spray and became one of Seale’s regular customers.
Between the two of them, the idea for a Powell’s Books location came up.
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