HYPERLOCAL NEWS HUB BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM

Mobbing Goner Records for a Good Cause

By Sheila Guerrero/MicroMemphis reporter

Memphis, TN (Micromemphis) Cooper-Young business, Goner Records, was recently mobbed for the very first time. Well not in a criminal sense, it was actually mobbed with about 70 customers thanks to the Memphis Cash Mob and owner, Eric Friedl enjoyed every bit of it.

“It was their first time doing this in Memphis…it sounded interesting even though we weren’t sure how it all worked,” said Friedl.

Memphis Cash Mob is a local branch of the country-wide Cash Mob. They allow local mom-and-pop store owners to be ambushed by people who aren’t familiar or who have never had the time to patronize the business.

The organization was founded by Christopher Smith in Buffalo, New York and the organization prides itself on bringing awareness to various businesses and nonprofit organizations.  During each mob event there is also a nonprofit, that they agree on who will receive 10% of the sales for that event. 

“We bring attention to small local young businesses and help them survive,” said Shannon Dixon of Memphis Cash Mob. 

People who attended the Goner Records cash mobs spent a minimum of $20 on records and for those who couldn’t find the record they came for they opted for t-shirts instead.

 “It is good to get your name out there and to have people come in to see the store even if they are not buying something. In this case they came expecting to buy something,” Friedl said.

“Goner was able to donate $100 to the Cooper-Young Community Association and it’s good to raise awareness for them,” said Dixon. 

The next Memphis Cash Mob will highlight Memphis Creative Collectives with portions of proceeds going to Literacy Mid-South on December 9, 2012 at 2pm.

Sheila Guerrero

Sheila Guerrero covers nonprofit organizations for MicroMemphis.
You can send her story ideas here.
You can follow her on Twitter @Broadcaster2be.
See more of Sheila's work at www.sheilaguerrero.wordpress.com

---