ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Less than a week after its grand opening, Friends to Lovers, a new romance-only book store, closed its doors due to smoke damage from a fire.
The store is the first bookstore in the D.C. area that sells only romance books. The owners posted the journey to opening the store on Instagram and TikTok with an outpouring of support from the community. A post on Instagram showed the store celebrating a successful and busy opening week.
"What an unforgettable day!" The store wrote on Instagram. "Your love and support mean the world to us, and we couldn’t have asked for a better start to this new chapter."
On Tuesday night, WUSA9 met up with the owner outside the charred building where they had just opened.
"We had our ribbon cutting on Wednesday and our grand opening celebration was on Thursday," said Jamie Fortin. "So we just finished up all of our grand opening events for the weekend maybe six hours before the fire happened."
Fortin is the owner of Friends to Lovers. She told WUSA9 that when she decided she wanted to open a romance bookstore, she knew Old Town, Alexandria would be the perfect spot.
"I wanted to create a community that's centered around not just being for women and queer people but celebrating things that we love and things that bring us joy, especially now, in the last few months, I think a lot of us are looking for a place where we know we can be safe and you know, celebrate ourselves and make friends in a place that's so transitory as D.C.," said Fortin.
She told WUSA9 she's a first-time business owner and this was not how she pictured how her first week would go.
"It's my first business. I'm 28, so I just got started, and yeah, so I'm kind of new to all of this, and I guess I'm getting, you know, training and small business ownership really quick," she said.
She said this whole situation has been incredibly tough.
"It just felt like everything I spent like months building. And that my community spent months building and that my friends and family invested in was just immediately, you know, within minutes up in flames," said Fortin.
The bookstore is one of three small businesses impacted by the fire.
According to the Alexandria Fire Department, crews were called to the building on South Saint Asaph St. just before 11 p.m. Sunday. More than 50 firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from the building and worked to extinguish the flames. No injuries were reported.
Three businesses are located inside the building, including Friends to Lovers Bookstore, Little Birdies Boutique, and Madame Coco Emporium. All three small businesses were forced to close due to smoke and water damage.
"All of the ceilings are burned and then there's just an inch layer of soot. It's very ominous in there and it gives you, like, a bit of an eerie feeling," said Shanlee Johnson, who owns Little Birdies Boutique
She told WUSA9 they've been around more than a decade, but had only opened this particular store in Old Town in March.
"Definitely discouraging you know because the holidays are definitely the biggest shopping season," said Johnson.
The owner of Madam Coco's Emporium shared a statement on Instagram, saying it was shaken by the losses, not just for their business.
"We are shaken by the losses, not just of our own space, but of the incredible women-owned businesses that were also impacted. These shops have been our partners, our friends, and a source of inspiration every single day," the statement reads. "Though the damage is immense, our spirits remain rooted in hope and resilience. This is more than just a setback-it's a reminder of the strength and unity of our community. Together, we will rebuild."
Both Johnson and Fortin told WUSA9 they hope to rebuild, although that likely wouldn't be in this same building since the damage is so extensive.
"We've been really fortunate that a lot of other small businesses have reached out and offered some space within their space for a pop-up. We have had such overwhelming community support, really wanting to make sure that we can be successful during this holiday season, but it is going to be a long and hard road getting there," said Fortin.
She said they plan to work out of some of those pop-up locations.
"Then we'll see what's to come for a more permanent location, but we're determined to stay open. This isn't it for us, no," said Fortin, adding "It's no longer just mine it's all of ours. We had so much community support from the beginning and You know, the community has kept their promise that they would stick by us, and we're really grateful for that and we're determined to, you know, continue giving back however we can".
"Everyone's come out and been very supportive and they're with us right now for sure," said Johnson.
Two of the business owners launched GoFundMe pages.
The GoFundMe Page for Friends to Lovers had raised more than $18,000 of its $20,000 goal as of Tuesday night.
The GoFundMe Page for Little Birdies had raised more than $4,000 of its $50,000 goal as of Tuesday night.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.