Publicity was ‘great for the store,’ says owner

Christ Centered Life Store collaborated with Fort Myers (Fla.) Cash Mob to host a cash mob for the store Nov. 19. The cash mob is a fairly recent phenomenon, having grown from the desire to show support for small, independent businesses.

“Our goal is to bring the community together to support these great local businesses”, said Kathy Kalvan, co-founder of the Fort Myers Cash Mob.

The idea is simple: Gather a large group of people to descend on a business in a short time span and have each person spend $10-$20 in cash at that business.

“It’s like a cash injection for a small, independent business,” said Karyn Brooks, the organization’s other co-founder.

“There will be a festive environment with a high school ensemble singing carols,” said Danny Vera, owner of Christ Centered Life Store, before the event. “We are billing it as an early Christmas shopping event.”

“I saw the cash mob going on locally, and I contacted them and told them we would be a great spot for this,” Vera added. “They came and saw the store and agreed even though their network is not Christian.”

In addition to the singing ensemble, a local cupcake maker joined the festivities with her products, offering free cupcakes to patrons of the event as well as providing a platform for spreading the word about her business.

“It was a great event,” Vera said afterward. “The publicity and buzz was great for the store.”

“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” he added. “Keeping our name top of mind is so crucial, and taking the lead in cool, social-type events also brands us as a store that is keeping up to date with the times. Win, win, win.”

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