CROZET, Va. (WVIR) – Two young girls in Crozet are working to make a difference in their community.

Sisters Tori and Kate Butler started it all with their pop-up shop Once upon a time there was a find Crozet at Mudhouse Coffee Crozet.

Now they hope to be able to offer the local children a space created especially for them.

“Just when the pandemic hit and we, like the whole world, shut down,” said co-founder Tori. “So we thought, you know, either we make it big or we go home. So we thought, ‘Let’s start doing this!'”

10-year-old Tori runs the store with her 12-year-old sister Kate.

The originally planned lemonade stand became a shop for used toys and books.

“We have lots of stuffed animals and toys, like green toys made from recycled plastic,” Tori said. “I just like to think about what I would have wanted as a child or what I would want when I’m older.”

The young entrepreneurs wanted a business where children could be children.

Tori takes care of supplies while Kate handles the online business.

The Butler sisters want to give families the chance to make their children’s childhood special.

“Parents sometimes always say, ‘I want to give you the childhood I never had,’ and that’s the childhood they’re talking about,” Kate said. “We want that to actually be true.”

Kate and Tori say the area lacks places designed just for kids.

“There are no children’s shops here and we really want children to play with them because in every single shop the toys are just packaged,” Kate said. “You can’t really play with them. You can’t have fun.”

Throughout the entire time they have been opening this store, the Butlers’ parents have cheered on their girls and made sure everything runs smoothly.

“They’re like a break for them. But there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” says Rhett Butler, Tori and Kate’s father. “They have to show a lot of stamina and endurance. And you don’t always want to show up. But they do.”

But the story doesn’t end here.

The family always works to give the community a happy ending.

“Incredibly proud. I love seeing them thrive, but also the impact they have on their peers and the community,” said mother Elizabeth Butler.

The Butlers tell me that working together as a family has helped them learn valuable life skills and bring them closer together.

A schedule for the pop-up shop can be found Here.

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