Cash Mobs

[Hound dog]

I don't know if you guys have heard of this type of thing yet. I spotted in online in an article a couple of weeks ago. A cash mob is sort of like a flash mob except you're helping local businesses who are having a rough time due to the economy. A day and a business is chosen and a group of people ( the more the better) show up to buy something from the store. It doesn't have to be a large purchase, but every purchase helps.

I just found someone who is attempting to do that here for our downtown businesses to help keep them open. I joined the group, I'm going to see if easy child and Nichole want to join it too and have them spread the word around. Because the more people you can get organized, of course the more you help the store.

I've said before, our area has been hit hard with unemployment, and for most folks drawing that unemployment.......their benefits ran out back in sept. There is a huge portion of our population with little or no money to spend even for necessities. So in this small town, our downtown businesses are starting to feel the pains. It's something that we've managed to keep our downtown area full of shops when most small town business districts are basically empty, a trend that started many many years ago. I'd like to keep our downtown alive, so I joined up. (I'll be the one making the teeny purchases lol )

Anyone who's area has their Mom & Pop shops having a hard time this is a good idea to boost business.

 

[susiestar]

What an AWESOME idea!!!! There are a LOT of people in my town who rant and rave about the evils of Walmart but they rarely go to other stores to shop. One such ranter told me that he would drive to the locally owned grocery or to the farmer's market but he just didn't have time because his job as a small business advocate took up too much of his time so he HAD to buy almost everything at Walmart. He had NO idea why I thought this was HILARIOUS, lol.

I will google this tomorrow and see if I can find some in our area. Thanks for sharing this!!!

 

[hearts and roses]

I love this and I'm going to check out our area. I hope it's a trend that catches on!

 

[Star*]

THAT IS FLIPPIN" AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Hound - let me know what the store is please - maybe I can join long distance? I LOVE OHIO - it's the heart of it all!

 

[Hound dog]

Will do Star. Or I can just send you an invite to the group so you can stay informed, either way.

When I saw the article on yahoo about a cash mob, it was about a small town........I believe it was a hardware store that was having a rough time holding on, the store had been there for several generations. This guy got the idea from the flash mobs and started talking to a few friends planning to go into the store on a certain day and all buying something. Those few friends of his passed the info of what they planned to do onto their friends, making sure to keep it a secret from the store owners. A large crowd really wasn't expected. It was a small group of folks who made the plans originally. So that morning comes and at opening time there is a line outside the door. That line didn't stop until long after closing time. Those friends the original folks had told had told their friends who had decided it was a great idea, who told their friends and family ect ect..... The store was full of customers all day......and there was a long line outside of people waiting to get inside to make a purchase. It made them feel good to be able to help out a Mom & Pop shop that had been a huge part of all their lives up until the places like Lowe's and walmart had moved close. It went so well they planned to keep it up. Entire extended families were showing up for this cash mob. It was pretty darn cool.

That was why I'd taken the grandsons to the downtown book store. It reminded me that I'd slacked off shopping down there. Then a local beloved pizza parlor announced it was closing due to lack of sales and the economy. It shocked the whole community. People flooded it the whole last week it was open, sadly it was too late to save it. We lost one of our Mom & Pop diners too. But at least another opened to take it's place and I hear it's good. I'll have to try it sometime.

I do shop at the local owned supermarket several times a week, at least. Now I love krogers, especially since they'll double coupons here every day, but it's nothing like a locally owned/operated market. I get local fresh meats there usually cheaper than anywhere else because there are less middle man costs. Our local market has their own butcher. Same with locally grown fruits and veggies. And they have the cheapest generic cigs I've ever seen that I buy because I'm not paying almost 6-7 bucks a pack. Everyone else buys them too. lol It's one of their hottest items.

Saddest part of losing these types of shops is that people get used to shopping the major dept stores and start to forget those places are still there, with their great customer service, unlike those dept stores. I'm guilty of it too at times. I kick myself every so often. lol Usuallly they're not anymore expensive than the dept stores. But people think there they can pick up more things at the same time.

The guy who started this realized that it wasn't up to the govt to save the town, it was up to the town's people to care enough to step up and help their own.

 

[Hound dog]

Ohhh. This is so cool.

Our first is today. We're Cash Mobbing Beech Street on Main. easy child and I are going as soon as she puts Connor down for a nap. I'm excited. I've been wanting to go into this shop for a while, but just have never made it in there. lol It's a newer (old) shop that moved from another spot hoping to boost sales, evidently it didn't help him much. Hopefully today will!

 

[pasajes4]

What great idea!

 

[AnnieO]

I love this idea, and wish I lived a tad closer to you, Lisa - my town wasn't hit quite as hard.

on the other hand... I'm sure there is something near me, too!

 

[tiredmommy]

The guy who started this realized that it wasn't up to the govt to save the town, it was up to the town's people to care enough to step up and help their own.

That's absolutely, 100% correct.

 

[susiestar]

So awesome!! I like that it was not started by the business owner, but by his community. Talk about the kind of community we all want to belong to!!

 

[Hound dog]

Told ya I live in a great little town.

That was FUN!!!! I only bought a candle at the targeted shop.........he has nice things, just a tad out of my price range and tastes.

BUT the real fun part was easy child and I took the time to visit other shops we'd been wanting to stop in.

One is an antique shop that also promotes local craftsmen and artists. Great place, lots of awesome things in there. Picked up an old cigar wooden box that is beautiful for Darrin next year for xmas. He goes gaga over my cig pack boxes which are actually trash, so Nana came up with this idea.....and they're great to collect. I'm not going to complain when I got a really nice one for 6 bucks. Found an antique highchair in there too, looks to be from the 30's or 40's meant to sit the child at the table, there is no tray and it is huge for 15.00 and in excellent shape. Now I have 3 grandsons who can't reach the table well. Brandon uses the "high chair" papa used at his age and it's special. Now I have something for Connor to use that is very similar, and Oliver can use the booster seat that has a tray until he's older. This shop may also sell some of my crocheted doll clothes, they're selling sewn clothing for american girl by another lady.

Another is a sort of consignment / thrift store that couple up with the local amish community (talk about smart). All clothing and shoes today were half off, and they had really nice things that were already cheap. Picked up 2 really nice sweaters for under 4 bucks, got Aubrey a beautiful sundress for summer for a dollar and Oliver a new pair of shoes for a dollar. Then I made my find! Found a 1960-70's fisher price dollhouse WITH the furniture and little people!!! The grandkids are gonna go bonkers for it. They've already fell head over heels for the vintage fisher price farm set I picked up for Brandon and Connor to play with since Darrin and Aubrey aren't over thrilled to share their older more expensive farm set with the little ones.........but now they all play with it. lol

I told easy child that I'll be doing this a LOT from now on. There were a couple of shops we didn't make it too because we'd already been at it for 2 hrs.

I think we cash mobbed most of the downtown this afternoon. But that is sort of the point.......once you're there, they hope you'll check out the other stores too.