Love is in the air; also alphabetical on the shelves

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, October 30, 2024

More than 400 people made their way to downtown Portland on Saturday to celebrate the opening of Grand Gesture Books, the state’s very first romance-only bookstore.

“Isn’t love grand?” the lettering on the store’s exterior window asks. Walking inside the shop at 814 S.W. 10th Ave., you’ll see the answer is, of course, “Yes.”

Muted pink walls, a rosy rug, delicate vases of blooming flowers and velvety armchairs surround dark brown bookshelves filled to the brim with every romance reader’s dream: a wide variety of subgenres to please even the pickiest of customers.

Katherine Morgan, romance enthusiast and owner of Grand Gesture, hopes the bookstore will offer a plethora of books about love, provide a space for book clubs to meet and host romance authors on book tours. It’s also one of just a handful of Black-owned romance bookstores in the nation.

At the store’s grand opening, Morgan estimates at least $15,000 worth of books were sold, with the line extending out the door and around an entire block. The store remained packed until 10 minutes before closing.

Oregon Public Broadcasting is a news partner of this publication. Find the original story here.