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The Bellport Cash Mob
The
Bellport Cash Mob was started by Village Resident Terri Hall and is not
affiliated with the Bellport Chamber of Commerce or Bellport Village Hall in
any way. Instead, it’s simply a community group made up of local residents
who want to help small, locally owned, businesses survive. They understand
how important these small local businesses are to our community and our
quality of life and they want to try to help in some small way.
Terri became aware of the concept of a Cash Mob through her brother and
sister-in-law in San Diego, California when a Cash Mob descended upon her
sister-in-law’s shop, "Make Good."
Terri says that In a nutshell, “A Cash Mob is a group of people who agree to
gather at a pre-determined time at a pre-determined local business. Each
person agrees to spend $20 (more if they like) in that store at that time.
The concept of a “Cash Mob” seems to have originated in Buffalo, New York and Cleveland, Ohio and has now spread across the country. The “rules” are very simple…
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The local business is selected based on their support and contribution to the local community AND should be locally owned.
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The selected business is notified in advance so that they can appropriately staff and prepare to service the number of expected customers. (Cash Mobbers must be patient and considerate as they shop and wait for their transaction to be processed.)
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The Cash Mob organizers are requested to alert local media so that appropriate coverage might be given to the event.
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Finally, it is suggested that a local “watering hole” be alerted as well and receive the Cash Mobbers following the event. This promotes yet another local business, creates a sense of community among the Cash Mobbers and well… it’s fun!
MSNBC Covers The Bellport Cash Mob
MSNBC,
Your Business just ran a piece on Cash Mobs including footage from the March
24th Bellport Cash Mob!
Click here to see the video from the show!
Bellport's First Cash Mob
Photos!!!
The Cash Mob "Flash Mobs" The Bellport
Marina
Terri
Hall's Cash Mob has struck again! This time, the business being supported
was Barbara Mordente’s Brookhaven School of Dance and the target was the
Bellport Marina. Here's a message Terri sent out to "The Mob" to bring them
up to speed...
"Friends! We are about to embark on Bellport’s Cash Mob 05! Oh yeah! So,
here’s the deal…
We are Cash Mobbing Barbara Mordente’s Brookhaven School of Dance in a
unique and oh-so-fun way! Barbara has choreographed a Flash Mob in true
Broadway fashion! A group of her dancers have been rehearsing the technical
part of the Flash Mob – this is the part we get to watch. These dancers are
GREAT! I had a sneak peak last Friday…WOW! They will make us look SO good!
Now, it is OUR turn!"
The members of the Cash Mob attended two workshops where they learned their
"moves" and then gathered at the Bellport marina to "flash mob" the place.
Click Here for photos from this fun event.
June’s
Cash Mobbing of the Village was a little different from past Cash Mob
gatherings. Terri Hall, the leader of the Bellport Cash Mob movement,
decided to announce ahead of time the “target” of this month’s “Mobbing,”
the new shop in town, The Red Bench. It was a “Thanks for bringing your
business to Bellport, now we’re bringing our cash to you!” get together and
The Red Bench had a lot to choose from.
Here’s a link to what The Red Bench
has to offer.
After Mobbing The Red Bench, the Mob moved on to Café Castello for an
evening of LIVE music and great food. The band, “Just Good Friends” was
performing their mix of traditional and contemporary music from Woody
Guthrie, to Dylan, John Prine, The Dead, and even Sea Shanties and a capella
three part harmonies thrown in for good measure. They’ll be performing
several more times this summer at Café Castello.
You can find their schedule
here.
Photo: L to R, Village Trustee Ken Budny, Cash Mob organizer Terri Hall,
Village Trustees Alison Neumann and Dorothy Terwilliger.
On
Saturday, May 5th, the Bellport Cash Mob was again assembled by Terri Hall
on the Village Green before descending on another Bellport business. This
time, the Mobbing was going to be a little different because Terri wanted to
celebrate all that the Bellport Cash Mob had accomplished both here and in
other towns around Long Island. Terri had promised that there would be food,
music, and time to get to know each other a little better. She made good on
all counts.
Once everyone had gathered on the Village Green, Terri announced the target
for the assembled Mobsters, the “Tavern on the Green” at the Bellport
Country Club! So, everyone got into their cars and headed a half mile west
on South Country Road to the Bellport Country Club’s “Tavern on the Green,”
right next to the Practice Putting Green on the golf course.
When they entered the Tavern, they were greeted by music played by the group
“Just Good Friends”
who had volunteered their services to support the efforts of the Cash Mob.
The Tavern had laid out a spread of “finger foods” for everyone’s enjoyment
and there was a cash bar where you could purchase the beverage of your
choice. The Mobbing taking place at the same time as the Kentucky Derby
meant that there were a lot of Mint Juleps being ordered.
After socializing, snacking, drinking, and listening to some great music,
many of the Mobsters stayed on for dinner at the Tavern. For most of the
Mobsters, this was their first visit to the “Tavern on the Green” and all
agreed that it wouldn’t be their last. All of the food, from burgers to
fillets, was absolutely top notch. Bellport clearly has a wonderful new
choice when it comes to dining out in the Village. If you’re interested, the
“Tavern on the Green” is open to golfers, residents, and their guests from
Tuesday through Sunday for lunch, Saturdays and Sundays for breakfast, and
starting June 1st, they will be open for dinner on Friday evenings. They
even have a “Late Day Menu” that’s available 7 days a week from 3pm to 6pm.
Click here to take a look!
Once Again The Cash Mob Descended On Bellport's Main Street
To celebrate International Cash Mob Day, March 24th, once again, Terri Hall
called together the Cash Mob to descend on Bellport's Main Street. To keep
it interesting, this time the Mob mobbed three different businesses in the
Village. About 60 Mobbers had a choice of mobbing Bellport Liquors, Cafe
Castello's Italian Specialties Shop, or Summer Salt. Yet another twist Terri
introduced was to ask Mobbers to bring "lightly used" overcoats to be
donated to the Lighthouse Mission and the Mobbers came through with a truck
load of coats which will be going to the Mission.
For entertainment, the local musical group, "Just Good Friends," donated
their time to perform at Cafe Castello and the entire Cash Mob event was
covered by MSNBC's "Your Business" TV show. We'll be sure to let you know as
soon we know when the show will air.
Once again, we should all thank Terri Hall for all the time and effort she's
put into the Cash Mob program. The sales it has generated for our local
businesses are certainly important, but even more important is the sense of
community it's brought to the Village. Atta girl Terri!!!
Below are photos of the Cash Mob, courtesy of Terri
Hall.
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Once Again, The Cash Mob Is A Huge Success- March 3, 2012
At
the last minute, Terri Hall, the organizer of the Cash Mob movement in
Bellport, came down with the Flu, but as they say, “The Mobbing must go on!”
We didn’t get a complete count, but it looked like once again, about 100
Mobbers met on the Village Green and then headed out for their target, the
It’s Only Natural health food shop on Main Street. It’s Only Natural is the
longest continually owner owned business in Bellport Village. The owners,
Nick and Lillian Depaolo were delighted.
The Mob lined up down Main Street and then waited their turns to shop. At one point a customer showed up who didn’t know anything about the Cash Mob, he just wanted to pick a few things up. He asked if he would have to go to the end of the very long line, but naturally, as a “real” customer, he was ushered to the head of the line. Afterwards, everyone headed for Avino's to talk, socialize, and relax.
The twist that Terri added this time, making a contribution to a local Food Pantry, was a complete success. Bag after bag was packed and sent to the Food Pantry at the Episcopal church and they too were delighted with the results of the Cash Mob. We can’t wait to find out what Terri has planned for next time!
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Bellport’s First Cash Mob
The
first ever Bellport Cash Mob started off on the afternoon of Saturday,
January 28, 2012 when a video crew for the nationally syndicated TV show,
Inside Edition, visited Terri’s home to interview Terri and Andrew Samtoy,
the originator of the Cleveland, Ohio Cash Mob who drove to Bellport for the
event.
At
5pm, the Cash Mob gathered on the Village Green. Because the emphasis is on
the community at large and helping EVERY business in the community, the
business to be “Mobbed” wasn’t announced until the Mob gathered on the
Green. In this case, the first business to be Mobbed was going to be the
Variety Mart, owned by Carol Holtz, and located on Main Street.
After
Bellport.com took some photos, the Mob walked over to the Variety Mart and
began to shop, and shop they did! Over 100 members of the community “Mobbed”
the Variety Mart with money in hand. Two and a half hours
later, Carol said that this gesture by the community had assured the
survival of the Variety Mart through the winter months. Large box stores
would hardly notice this kind of extra business, but for a small, locally
owned business, it’s the difference between being able to stay in business
and closing their doors.
After
Mobbing the Variety Mart, the Mobbers moved on to Porters on the lane for
refreshments and celebrating the first ever Bellport Cash Mob. Some Mobbers
stayed at Porters for dinner, while others moved on to the other restaurants
in town. An extra 100+ people in Bellport can make a huge difference and we
noticed increased business at all of the local restaurants. The point is
that the Cash Mob concept benefits all of the businesses in town in one way
or the other and not just the particular business chosen to be Mobbed that
day.
Next month, the Cash Mob will again gather and a second Village Business
will be selected to be Mobbed. We’ll be sure to let you know all about it,
but better yet, why don’t you drop Terri a line and get involved? You can
email Terri at
terrihall@optonline.net . And please remember to shop locally
whenever possible. It makes a BIG difference!
Would you like to see the photos we took at the first Bellport Cash Mob?
Just CLICK HERE.