Las Vegas Cash Mob organizes crowd visits to small businesses

Flash mobs, groups of people who organize to perform seemingly spontaneous, attention-grabbing stunts , have become almost common. Not as many people are familiar with a new phenomenon -- cash mobs.

Cash mobs replace the bunny ears or the zombie make up with social consciousness.

"I was shocked to find out we didn't have one out here already," said Las Vegas Cash Mob founder Danielle Bell. "Instead of waiting, I just went ahead and started organizing it on my own."

Cash mobs show up at a small, local business and each mob member spends $20. It's a way to meet people, perhaps see an interesting business they might have not been familiar with and give that business a financial boost.

"We're doing it monthly for now," said Bell, a stay-at-home mom and director of Lifespan Faith Development at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Las Vegas at 3616 E. Lake Mead Blvd. "I was going to wait until the summer to start, but when I heard about National Cash Mob Day, I decided to get going with it."

March 24 was declared National Cash Mob Day at cashmobs.wordpress.com, which is as close to an official national voice as the grass-roots movement has. Bell spread the word through friends, Twitter and Facebook, and at noon more than a dozen shoppers descended on the Gypsy Den, a vintage goods store at 213 E. Colorado Ave.

Owner KT Cewe declined to reveal exactly how much the mob spent, but she did say that it paid her downtown store's rent for the month.

"I've only been in the store once or twice before, during First Friday," Bell said. "It just seemed like a cool place to bring people to and start this whole thing off."

Bell contacted Cewe in advance, because her research on cash mobs told her it's best to make sure the owner is aware and prepared . Once locals are familiar with the concept, she is hoping others will get involved and organize new groups. She dreams of even more localized mobs, such as a Henderson or North Las Vegas cash mob.

"I think it's part of the whole experience," Bell said. "It's getting people involved and maybe creating new leaders. I'm sure other people have ideas and might know of local businesses that are struggling."

Some first-time cash mobbers, such as North Las Vegas resident Ty Weinert, know about the struggles of small businesses first hand.

"I used to be a small-business owner until the economy turned," said Weinert, who owned the Potato Valley Cafe in downtown Las Vegas. "I know how hard it is, so when Danielle said she was doing it, I said, 'I'm in.' "

Weinert met Bell through the PTA and joined the Las Vegas Cash Mob Facebook group to keep informed about future mobs. She was excited about her purchases at the Gypsy Den.

"I bought a really cool, funky kind of dress and a book, 'A Night to Remember,' for my son because he's interested in the Titanic."

Rory Geller spent her $20 and her husband's $20 purchasing a vest, necklaces and a display of real butterflies.

"She does all the buying," joked her husband, Abe. "I do all the 'Uh huh, that looks great, honey.' "

Geller, who teaches at the Las Vegas Day School, had at least two reasons for attending the inaugural Las Vegas Cash Mob event.

"I just wanted to support local business here," she said. "And I'm always in the market for tools for the classroom."

For Bell, that's what it's all about. She charged participants in the first cash mob with instructions to meet three people they had never met before.

"This is all about face-to-face community," Bell said. "We're supporting local businesses. We're also supporting local community."

The next Las Vegas Cash Mob meet is scheduled at noon Saturday in the parking lot of the Rainbow Plaza on the northwest corner of Charleston and Rainbow boulevards. For more information, search for Las Vegas Cash Mob on Facebook or follow the group on Twitter at twitter.com/#!/cmlasvegasnv.

Contact Sunrise/Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.