Napa "Cash Mob" Forms on Facebook as Starbucks Prepares to Open Downtown

Updated: Sept. 29 from 8 to 9 a.m. is the appointed hour for the cash mob, according to Karen Garcia:

Earlier:

A well-publicized effort earlier this year to block Starbucks from opening an outlet in downtown Napa ended in defeat for Napa Local, the group formed in opposition to the coffee giant's plan to set up shop kitty-corner from long-established Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company.

Now one member of Napa Local, Karen Garcia, has taken a new tack on behalf of the locally-owned coffee shop, starting a Facebook page called "Cash Mob for Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company, downtown Napa."

"We don't yet know when Starbucks will be opening their store on First Street. The minute we do know, we'll post it here and hope that lots of you will show up at 8:00 AM to make a purchase at our beloved Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company!" Garcia writes on the Facebook page, which she set up first thing Monday morning.

"I just woke up at 4:30 this morning thinking, 'cash mob,'" said Garcia, who said she'd seen a sign at the Starbucks location over the weekend indicating a Sept. 27 grand opening date.

But, Garcia continued, when she went downtown after sunrise Monday to take a picture of Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company for the Facebook page, "that notice was gone from the window" at Starbucks.

"The minute I know when they're opening, I'm going to post it" on the Facebook page, Garcia said.

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.

"Starbucks may be opening across the street, but we still love our local businesses," she said.

Garcia emphasized that she is acting on her own and not on behalf of Napa Local.

But, speaking as a member of the group, she said that while Napa Local is "not sure what our next steps are going to be," members are pleased that their concerns about supporting local businesses have been heard and discussed by city government.

"We're really happy the conversation is now happening," she said.

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