About Us

COMING SOON: A new bookshop in downtown Fitchburg.

Bonfire Bookshop & Press was formally organized in 2020 with an ambition to open an independent bookstore to be a "third space" for literary activity and community-building.

In September 2021, we found what seemed like a hopeful first home in the historic Dickinson Building. From November 2021 through April 2022, we operated a pop-up shop there, giving the community an early glimpse of the kind of bookstore we hoped to build: warm, bookish, local, curious, and independent. That test flight was reassuring. Customer feedback was deeply encouraging, and the retail data we gathered helped us calibrate our long-term business plan.

Following the pop-up, we were in a holding pattern for a few months while we waited to learn the direction of building renovations. Meanwhile we kept the work moving. We sold books online, set up at vendor fairs, provided services such as publishing consulting and bookfinding, conducted writing and publishing workshops, and continued developing the business side of our imprints Bonfire Press and Pen & Anvil Press. We’ve especially enjoyed working alongside editorial interns from Fitchburg State University during this long preparatory, prefatory chapter.

Before too long, however, it became clear that we needed a new and more permanent location. We sought out that new spot and in 2023 moved into One Wood Place. Since then, we have spent our time renovating the building, updating its systems, and installing accessibility features.

At the time of writing this update, it's been six years since we decided to open a bookstore in Fitchburg. Since that kick-off, our plans have matured to recognize three distinct (though not unrelated) areas of bookselling: 

  • Bonfire Bookshop will occupy the first floor of One Wood Place as a cozy community retail shop specializing in used and secondhand books.

  • Jade Vine Rare Books, located in the second-floor offices at One Wood Place and available by appointment, will focus on vintage and antique books, foreign-language books, specialist and academic books, and other uncommon finds.

  • Goldfinch Mercantile will operate from 300 Main Street at the other end of downtown. There, we will sell new books as well as stationery, apparel, and arts-and-gifts items with a particular focus on locally made goods. (Maybe you've seen the amazing window art we commissioned from a talented local artist...)

Whether you're checking out a centuries-old tome at Jade Vine, browsing the eclectic inventory at Bonfire, or picking up a bestseller and a couple of artful greeting cards at Goldfinch down the street, we hope to bring you a book-culture experience that helps you find your story. 

As of June 2026, renovations at One Wood Place are mostly complete. We have now turned our attention to building shelves and to the great labor of sorting, pricing, and shelving the roughly 50,000 used books we have collected and warehoused over the past several years while preparing to open our doors.

Our current plan is to announce a Preview Week in late summer or early fall 2026, with events, behind-the-scenes tours and chats, and test sales days. We then expect to hold a full grand opening four to six weeks after that preview.

Through Bonfire, Jade Vine, Goldfinch, and the Press, our commitment is to provide sustainable income for our team, a true third place for our community, and another lasting home for book culture in the Fitchburg area. Back in 2020 we launched a pass-the-hate fundraiser on GoFundMe to help us meet our financial goals. On the page, we wrote:

A bonfire is inviting, nostalgic, mesmerizing... a bookshop should be the same. Let's create a space where people can gather and find warmth and fellowship as they share their stories, just the way people sit around a bonfire. I hope you'll support us in the opening of Bonfire Bookshop. When you donate to this project, you are investing in a future for Fitchburg which is ever more rooted in community, culture, arts, and innovation.

Happy to say, we stand by these words today. And we look forwarding to seeing you in the shop before long! 

Best regards from the owners and staff: Zak, Randi, Peter, Christina, Britt, Caeden, Kira, Gage, Aly, and Maddy (and from the shop kids: Isla, Cecilia and Noah)

How you can help

This postscript is inspired by the many, many people who have contacted us to ask how they can help. Honestly, the offer is itself a huge help. The obstacles that stand in front of getting a new business off the ground are numerous and daunting, and encouraging helps us to keep the flame lit. 

It's possible that the timing of shelf construction will allow us to schedule a single Big Sort day when the truck comes with several hundred (!) cartons of books which we will need to unload and sort by genre. It is fun to imagine that happening with the help of a few dozen friends. If you'd like to be kept in the loop for that sort of an occasion, please sign up for our mailing list using the form at the bottom of this page. We'll buy the pizza, and send everyone home with $20 gift certificates good for future purchases.

Do you want to help by joining the team? Send us an email with your resume and a note explaining your interest. 

You're also welcome to chip in toward our operating expenses via GoFundMe. We launched this fundraiser years ago when we were steering toward an opening within six months at the original location. Since then our plans have been, month by month, very contingent, so we could not in good conscience invite donations. However, we're back on a definite track now, and we now welcome your financial support. Your contribution will go entirely and only toward business costs or non-owner staff compensation. The link:

gofund.me/d92d8743

To date we have received donations from approximately 150 individuals, including more than 40 who have sponsored specific book sections (Mystery, Black Lives & Letters, LGBTQ+, and so on). As long as it is practical, we will continue to offer this form of recognition to any donor of more than $250 who wishes to sponsor a shelf of their choosing. All donors will be acknowledged on signage in the shop, along with the names of all those community members, book culture colleagues, and city leaders who have helped us bring a bookstore to downtown Fitchburg.