1st ‘cash mob’ in West Seattle/White Center to be @ Village Green

Maybe you’ve heard of the “cash mob” concept, now that it’s been tried in a couple neighborhoods around, and near, Seattle – supporters of a local small independent business “mob” it at a pre-set time and place, usually pledging to spend at least $20 each. The first West Seattle/White Center “cash mob” has just been announced, with its “target” Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) at 2 pm April 28th. Local entrepreneur Michael B. Maine of Menrva Labs, whose mission is “to promote social change by increasing social awareness,” came up with the idea this weekend, and will roll out more information in the week ahead. He explains that “… after meeting Vera Johnson at the ‘Women on a Mission’ conference a few weeks ago, I decided to head down to her nursery yesterday. After spending a couple of hours with her, I thought her place would make a great location to host a cash mob.” We think every day would be a great day to “mob” your favorite local independent businesses, and Michael says he agrees, while adding, “I think it’s important for them to know where to be and when. Then they can make the conscious effort to support or not support that business.” Keep tabs on the “cash mob”‘s Facebook event page in case something changes.

11 Replies to "1st 'cash mob' in West Seattle/White Center to be @ Village Green"

  • lina April 8, 2012 (1:45 pm)

    Awesome! what a great way to support a sweet local business! I love village green, it is so much more than just a nursery-

  • miws April 8, 2012 (2:01 pm)

    Cool that it will be Village Green, and doubly cool that it’s happening to a WSB Sponsor!

    .

    I’m sure many small WS Businesses will be mobbed on their own merit, but it would be great to see even more WSB Sponsors among them!

    .

    Mike

    • WSB April 8, 2012 (2:55 pm)

      Mike, just to make sure nobody misunderstands, we had nothing to do with the choice here and are not affiliated with the organizer (we first heard about it and him last night via Twitter, when he “followed” the WSB account @westseattleblog with his newly created @cashmobws account, and then we heard from him via e-mail today) … in fact, as I had mentioned in a forum thread just a couple days ago, and alluded to again here, we would rather see ALL local independent businesses get “mobbed” regularly … All too often if a business goes under, somebody somewhere in a comment or Forum post says “Oh darn, if I had known they were struggling, I would have gone more often,” and the reply is, “Don’t wait to hear they need you – just go more often NOW!” Every $5, $10, $20 helps. As will of course be the case for this event! – TR

  • cj April 8, 2012 (2:14 pm)

    What a great idea to help support local economy.

  • coffee April 8, 2012 (2:24 pm)

    Wow, that is so cool! And really 20 is not that much to spend!

  • trueblue April 8, 2012 (4:24 pm)

    I just saw in the Forum that Furry Faces is looking for donations for an upcoming plant sale, so what a great way to get more bang for your buck than to buy some plants at the Village Nursery and then donate some or all of them to Furry Faces to help raise funds for their great cause. I thought the “cash mob” to benefit the Village Nursery was a great idea, but this way it goes twice as far. And, I can drop them off at Hotwire Coffeehouse on the way home.

  • Bonnie Damey April 8, 2012 (8:11 pm)

    Great nursery! Great people!!Love that place!!!
    Can I come early please???

  • Ajax April 8, 2012 (9:59 pm)

    @trueblue – great idea. Two good deeds for the price of one.

  • Christine Hanna April 9, 2012 (11:49 am)

    This is GREAT! As a co-organizer of the Women on a Mission event, I’m so glad to see action coming from the connections made there. We will help promote via FB/twitter, etc. So cool.

  • furryfaces April 9, 2012 (3:03 pm)

    Vera has been a long time supporter of Furry Faces so we are very pleased that she is will be the center of a ‘cash mob’!!!!

    trueblue…thank you for thinking of Furry Faces! You too, Ajax. We love the pay it forward idea!!!!

  • Michael B. Maine April 18, 2012 (6:38 pm)

    I’m so proud to become part of this community. It’s nice to see how everybody here supports each other. I’ve been looking for a place to land for a few months now, and feel very fortunate that where I ended up was West Seattle. I’m really looking forward to this cash mob, future ones, and other community activities!

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