Business & Tech
Cash Mob Planned at Plaza Bella
Drop by Plaza Bella at 5:45 Thursday, May 24, to discover which business will get "mobbed."
Grow Brandon, a nonprofit group dedicated to supporting local small businesses, has organized its first "cash mob."
The event will take place Thursday, May 24 at 5:45 p.m. at Plaza Bella on Bloomingdale Avenue in Valrico.
"This is an incredibly fun way to support our locally owned businesses and we are asking that each one of you make time to join the mob in support of a local family-owned business in need of a boost," said Grow Brandon founder Darrin Tyson.
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All residents need to participate is $20. The mob will assemble in the parking lot of Plaza Bella where the local business to be "mobbed" will be revealed. Residents are then urged to spend their $20 in that business.
Cash mobs are a trend that's popped up around the country in support of local businesses.
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Grow Brandon was started by Tyson, a Brandon chiropractor. The group has a website and Facebook page, and invites Brandon area small business owners to join, at the same time encouraging residents to "buy local."
Today’s economy has a lot of small business owners searching for answers on how best to build commerce in an era of disruptive technologies.
Darrin Tyson, a chiropractor and owner of in Brandon, is one such person.
“Right now, with the economy the way things are in the United States, I wanted to figure out something we could do locally to boost our local businesses and grow our local economy,” Tyson told the
“The big-box store, the big chains, I love all those,” Tyson said. “But when we spend our money there, most of the money goes to corporate offices out of the state, and maybe out of the country. But if we buy from local businesses, the money stays and we can start growing our town.”
Grow Brandon is focused on networking, but not in the traditional sense, Tyson said.
“I have been involved in networking groups, and those are great things,” he said. “What I found awkward is trying to get people to do leads. We did have our one meeting, where we got to know each other, which is much like networking, and we had 30 seconds to share with everyone what we do.”
Tyson noted as well that business owners don't always have time to meet, so the aim is to meet primarily online, through “the website, Facebook and social media,” and to connect people to local businesses through a directory listing.
“We make it simple,” he said. “You’re just one click away from finding locally owned businesses that sell every product and service you want.”
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