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Flash mobs..."planking"..."Tebowing".  None with much of a life-span or lasting impact.

But a new internet-driven activity, aimed at helping struggling small businesses, it catching on around the country.

"Cash Mobs" are relatively new...but are growing in number.

The idea is a simple one.  Organizers hit up friends through social media asking them to show up on a certain day at a meeting place, with cash in their pockets. Once there, cash mobbers learn what store they will be patronizing.

From there they go shopping, with the promise to spend at least $20. Store owners are warned ahead of time, so they are not overwhelmed with shoppers.

Chris Smith is a Buffalo, New York resident who organized the first cash mob event last August. He told the Buffalo News that he came up with the idea as a way to support local businesses. "Those of us who have a few dollars to spend ... should come out and try to show them that we appreciate that they've made an investment in the community."

According to CNBC, Since that first event, word has spread via social media sites, and cash mobs have shown up at Big Fun Toy Store in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Bluestocking Books in San Diego, Emery’s 5 & 10 in Knoxville, Tenn., and a produce market in Richmond, Calif. 

A tipster to consumerist.com sent in features Brielle's Coffee and Tea Room in Independence, Ohio that has been in business for 18 years but has faced financial as well as personal setbacks for the owners recently.

In Brielle's case, FOX8 in Cleveland held a contest for local businesses to be the winners of a cash mob, and they lucked out. Shoppers will descend on the coffee shop Wednesday, Feb. 29 from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and hopefully, leave its registers ringing.

The originator of the idea added, “To me, social media—Twitter, Facebook and those sorts of things — should be about building offline communities as much as online communities and try to bring people out to meet each other. I think that’s the City of Good Neighbors for you: Let’s come out and support each other."

What do you think of the "Cash Mob" phenomena?  Would you like to see it organized here in NW Ohio and SE Michigan?  What business would you nominate for an inaugural "Cash Mob" in your area?