New Indie bookstore born out of love and a need for a change

By Britany Adorno-Alicea

The “The Lovers” mirror inside Wildfire Bookstore reflects the store’s romantic and whimsical design, part of the handmade space created by Stacey Fish and her husband.

When you enter, you walk into a space with walls covered in bookshelves and a dark and moody, yet cozy vibe. A small fireplace is on the left wall, warming up the space during the winter months and velvet green couches offer comfortable places to sit and lounge in while you shop. The big front store window brings in light and bathes the entire store in sunshine. This is the experience of stepping into the Wildfire Bookstore.

Wildfire opened its doors in November 2025 on 29 College Road, bringing to Fairbanks another locally owned indie bookstore and offering a space to find any kind of romance one might want. The store was built from the ground up by hand, a collaboration between Fish and her husband. From the floor to ceiling bookshelves and the chandelier that hung over the cozy seating area, the store was designed and crafted with love.

Born and raised in Anchorage, Stacey Fish began preparations to open Wildfire Bookstore when she first saw the “For Rent” sign outside the store on College Road. She moved to Fairbanks 9 years ago with her husband for her previous job. “I worked at a corporate job for 14 years in a male-dominated industry,” Fish said. 

“I worked my way up and eventually became the only female manager in our entire company.” When she left, she said she was very burned out and realized she did not enjoy her work anymore.

“I always had this idea that I was going to retire there, because of how long I had been at that job, and I was so proud of my work there,” Fish said. Despite this, she was feeling depressed.

“I used to thrive on being the only woman in that company,” said Fish. “But I would constantly have to prove my worth there when I had already done so many times.” One day her therapist asked her, “If money wasn’t a factor, what would you do?”

“I told her, I would like to open a romance bookstore,” Fish said. She loved reading and said that it made her find herself again after the depression from her old job made her feel lost. “By the end of it, she looked at me and she said, “If only you could see the way you light up.”

Her therapist made Fish wonder, why would she not? “I thought that I could get over being unhappy but realized that this was something I really wanted.” She had never told her husband about this dream of hers prior because she was worried about upsetting the balance of their current life.

“My husband, when I finally told him, said to me, you need to do that,” said Fish. “He was the one who helped me come up with a year to 18-month plan for the bookstore.”

The front door of Wildfire Bookstore marks the entrance to the new Fairbanks indie bookstore, where owner Stacey Fish turned her dream of opening a romance bookstore into reality.

Fish’s husband, Dmitri Dante Fish, said he felt like she had found her calling. “I felt like even though it would be a big project, I knew it would be worth every screw and every splinter.” Mr. Fish was willing to invest every effort into making this dream a reality for her. “And it made me proud, knowing what you were capable of.”

The two came up with an initial plan and less than five months after, Fish had found the location for her bookstore. “I happened upon a Rent sign in front of this space when I was visiting Vanity Nails across from the Bentley Mall,” Fish said. “And I thought, oh that’s a really cute space I wonder what it looks like inside.”

The lease was signed by the end of June and preparations for the opening of Wildfire occurred for the rest of the year, leading to its soft opening in late November. “I did all this because I was unhappy. And that is a very valid thing to do.”

“Once you get to a certain point in life, that thing that you thought would bring you happiness, making money and having that career and that placement, makes you realize how much more it was taking from you than it was giving back,” said Fish when reflecting on how her old job had made her feel. “I would hate to know that any employer was treating my daughters the way I was treated, and that is what ultimately changed my mind.”

Fish made this change to become a better version of herself for her husband and for her daughters and it has brought her a lot of happiness in the short time that her dream has been living, she said.

Wildfire was created to be a primarily a romance only bookstore. “I love romance books because from the beginning, I learned that it was women’s voices being empowered,” said Fish on her reasoning for this. “Having that acknowledgment that they deserve to be in that place that they’re in and that they can explore within those books.”

Wildfire, to Fish, is all about empowering women and showing them that they can have opinions and thoughts without any of it being a nuisance. “That’s just what I love out of romance, especially fantasy because by the end of the series, the woman is the one that changed everything.”

Wildfire is not the only romance bookstore here in Fairbanks, but despite being in the same niche market, Fish does not see there being any competition between them. “I’m just doing what makes me happy and doing that brings in mutually happy people who want to be here and experience it,” Fish said.

The bigger competition that the two bookstores, as well as the other indie bookshops in Fairbanks face, is Barnes and Noble. As the biggest distributor of books, it’s hard to compete with it as an indie store, but Fish is confident in the efforts of the indie bookstores here in Fairbanks.

Fish described her store as not being strictly 18+ to enter but only sells 18+ romance books. However, she does offer a small selection of young adult romance books that have little to no spice for younger readers.

“We have a very small young adult section, because I think its really important for girls to be able to read and explore in a safe manner as well, and also learn that not everything in books is meant to reflect in real life,” Fish said. “Some of the men in these books are walking red flags and that’s fun to read, but not to actually live with.”

“I love being part of the community and being able to collaborate with people.” Fish has done craft nights, book clubs, and girls’ nights at her store, as well as partnering up with other businesses such as Fireweed & Cedar to do yoga events in the bookstore. “I love being part of their stories. It brings me so much joy after being told for so long what I could or could not do.”

One such customer, Chelsea Anderson, felt similarly about what Fish had to say. “I first heard about Wildfire on social media and stumbled in one day and fell in love with how cozy it was,” Anderson said. “I’ve attended one of the craft nights and she always has different events going that just bring you back in.”

Fairbanks’ community and status as a military town is also why Fish allows mothers to bring their kids in store with them. “Military moms especially do not often have the ability to go places by themselves. So, I am always very welcoming to bringing children in here, and I will spend time together with them while mom shops and watch cartoons.”

Fish is excited about the future of her store, having exciting events and pop ups planned for the future, such as reoccurring Valkyrie Yoga with Fireweed & Cedar and celebrating Indie Bookstore Day. “I’m looking forward to getting to be a bigger part of this community.”