Skokie Group Draws 'Cash Mob' Of Shoppers To Stores
SKOKIE, Ill. (CBS) -- Flash mobs usually show up to dance en masse, act as human statues, or even have pillow fights, but in Skokie, they're lining up to spend money.
As WBBM Newsradio's John Cody reports, Skokie merchants capitalized on the idea by getting buyers into stores for a "cash mob" this past weekend.
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"A cash mob is basically like a flash mob, except that you pick a retailer, and you put the word out, show up at a particular time, and you basically mob the store with buyers," said Randy Miles president of IMODS –Independent Merchants of Downtown Skokie.
Like flash mobs, cash mobs use social media to draw people together in one place during a specific period of time.
Miles says the first cash mob target was Ace Hardware at 5035 Oakton St. in Skokie.
"They had something to offer for everybody, paint to pools; pickles, I saw being sold there," Miles said.
Miles says the effort worked. The Saturday 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. take is normally $200. This past Saturday, it soared to $1,000.
The cash mob was successful enough that IMODS will try it again, at an office supply store in downtown Skokie sometime next month.
