Two Rockford women opened Fur-Ever Finds Thrift in East Rockford to fund a nonprofit animal sanctuary for stray cats. Co-owners Carina Marchione and Lindsey Perez say the vision came after struggling to find placement for a stray cat because local rescues were at capacity.
“I was calling around to see, like, if I could place her somewhere and nobody had space,” Marchione said. “So then I just had a crazy idea. I’m like, I’m going to open a thrift store and then the store is going to fund the cat rescue.”
Marchione says her and Perez have been friends for two decades, frequently spending time together shopping at various thrift shops before deciding to launch their own venture…