'Cash mobs' mobilize to boost small businesses

Bringing together strangers, often through social media, the cash mob events aim to support locally owned merchants. The upshot: stores get a windfall, and 'mobsters' learn more about their city and meet new friends.
Similar to so-called flash mobs — groups that assemble in public to perform often frivolous activities such as dancing — cash mobs bring together strangers. But the purpose is serious: to support locally owned businesses with a quick injection of cash. The trend is part of a larger "buy local" movement that has emerged in response to the rise of big-box national chains that are putting the squeeze on mom and pop stores.
Go here for the Los Angeles Times story and here for the Reuters article published on March 24, 2012.