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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I used to feel sorry for the Napa Valley Roasting Company, because I love supporting local business. However you would think they would try a little more to fight back to Star Bucks moving across the street from their business. Napa Roasting Company need to higher their customer service standards. You will be standing at the counter and you will not get acknowledge right away, there should be more sizes of cups to select from, up their coffee selection, lower prices from Star Bucks, and change their hours to compete with Star Buck hour's. I have not seen any of these things change, correct me if I am wrong.
I recently went out for my morning walk in downtown Napa looking for a cup of coffee and nothing was opened at 6:ooam. Went back to my car and drove to Starbucks at Nob Hill knowing it would be opened and I'd be greeted with a smile.
I also think it is time for a boycott of all Starbucks. I am sick of corporate chains coming in, draining profit from our community, and like parasites remove it to their corporate hosts. That's not the free market....that's exploitation plain and simple.
How much of a choice will you have when Starbucks runs their competitors out of town? Proponents of corporate chains and free market economics are the real ones that are anti-choice. They support a system that allows giant corporations to destroy their competition and encourages monopolies.
Local businesses actually retain more revenue for local governments as cited in a studied published by Sonoma State. "For every $100 of local products bought and sold by Oliver’s, there’s an additional $63 of spending in Sonoma County for a total impact of $163. If Oliver's didn’t source locally, $27.5 million in its overall impact would flow out to another area. Oliver's buying behavior retains these gains for Sonoma County annually." http://www.northbaybiz.com/Monthly_Features/bizTips/The_Economics_of_Going_Local.php
Instead, they make vague references to "anchor stores" and "mixed businesses". My question is, since the multiplier effect is a proven economic fact, why do they oppose policies which would maximize the multiplier effect?