Social media brings boon to businesses

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The power of social media brought a small crowd of customers to a Buffalo chocolate shop Friday night.

You may have heard of a "flash mob," where a crowd gathers in a location all at once and performs some kind of stunt. Well, this is a "cash mob," where a group gathers into a small business to help bring them customers.

A steady stream of customers came into Chow Chocolat, a chocolate and coffee shop on Elmwood, Friday night. All it took to get the "cash mob" started was a tweet on Twitter from Chris Smith, who posted that followers of the Buffalo Cash Mob should show up to Chow Chocolat between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday and spend at least $10.

Smith invented the idea, and says he makes no money from it, and his followers vote on where they would like to go next.

"My wife uses GroupOn and Living Social and those services, and I thought, 'Why can't we also support businesses that make an investment in our community by just coming out and paying full price?' Why do we always need a coupon?" said Smith.

Cash mobber Linda Herr said, "I think it's an excellent opportunity to get the local businesses some air time without having to try the big box stores."

Chow Chocolat owner Scott Wise said, "We're glad and we're happy that people thought of us and voted for us, that they appreciate what we're trying to do."

Though there was a sizable crowd, it never truly became mobbed. However, of the 20 or so customers we saw enter the store, they told News 4 they came out because of the cash mob notification. They gather in businesses around once a month. You can learn more here.