Organizers hope ‘cash mob’ will help biz

Mob rule is coming to Van Wert this month, but this mob should be beneficial to local businesses, organizers hope.

To show support for locally owned businesses, a group of local citizens, with help from Main Street Van Wert Inc., will host Van Wert’s first “cash mob” in the month of April and invite the community to take part.

A cash mob is a group of community members who visit a locally owned business or eating establishment all at one time in a combined shopping and social activity. The cash mob event is meant to be fun for everyone involved, but also provide an economic stimulus for the community. This type of event has been organized all over Ohio and the nation and now will take place in Van Wert.

The term “cash mob” comes from the concept of a flash mob, where singers and dancers perform unexpectedly at malls and college campuses and get the entire crowd participating. At a cash mob, community members all meet at a designated location and then walk together to the business to “mob” the store with shoppers. Organizers of the cash mob work with each business in advance to make sure they are prepared for the group of shoppers.

The goal during a cash mob is that each person spends at least $10 at the “mobbed” business. “If each ‘mobber’ spends the minimum, it is a quick injection of business to the store and, in turn, helps our local economy,” says Eric Hurless, one of the event’s organizers. “It also helps new and long-time residents visit businesses they’ve never experienced.”

Van Wert cash mob organizers are excited at the fast and positive feedback this idea is already receiving. Having been announced just over a week ago on social media websites Facebook and Twitter, the Van Wert cash mob group has over 75 fans, with many commenting how excited they are to participate.

“We are thrilled with how responsive people have already been, we are hearing only great things about this idea, and we hope for a large turnout for the first mob,” says Main Street Van Wert Program Manager Adam Ries, who is helping organize the cash mobs.

To learn more about the Van Wert cash mob and to read about the impact these events are making in communities across Ohio, visit www.facebook.com/VanWertCashMob or follow on Twitter @VWCashMob. The Mob would like to remind everyone all updates and info will be from these two outlets in the future.