Business & Tech
Napa "Cash Mob" Date Set, Organizer Says
This Saturday morning, Sept. 29, 8 a.m. is the appointed hour for a planned "cash mob" to benefit Napa Valley Coffee Roasting as Starbucks opens across the street, says organizer Karen Garcia.
The Napa woman behind a Facebook-propelled effort to create a "cash mob" for a downtown coffee shop has set the date and time for participants to gather and place their orders.
Saturday morning, Sept. 29, from 8 to 9 a.m. is the appointed hour for the cash mob to bring its business to Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company at Main and First Streets, Karen Garcia said.
"Folks can show up any time on the 29th to support our effort, but we'd love to have lots of people there at 8 a.m.," Garcia wrote in an email to Napa Patch Tuesday morning.
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The longtime coffee bar and roasting service is about to get a new neighbor across the street when downtown's first Starbucks opens this weekend, and Garcia has been in the forefront of local protests against the advent of the coffee giant so close to a smaller, independent café.
Monday morning, Garcia created the Cash Mob for Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company, downtown Napa Facebook page, which had gathered more than 45 "likes" by Tuesday at 9 a.m.
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The cash mob concept, in which customers are encouraged to flood a designated business with orders, is a way locals who opposed the downtown Starbucks can "do something positive," Garcia said Monday.
"Starbucks may be opening across the street, but we still love our local businesses," she said.
Will you take part in the cash mob? Boycott Starbucks? Both, neither or something else? Let us know in the comments. If you'd rather remain anonymous, email napa@patch.com.
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