UPDATE: Cash Mob Tonight (Nov. 27) at Simply Marcella in Downtown Lake Orion

Update: The secret is out! The Cash Mob from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, is at Simply Marcella. 

Enjoy shopping, wine and jewelry at 34 South Broadway in downtown Lake Orion.

You’ve heard of flash mobs; those fun, seemingly spontaneous events where a large group of people suddenly bursts into song or dance, much to the amusement of onlookers?

In similar fashion, the Orion Area Chamber of Commerce has organized two cash mobs this holiday season to support local businesses. In a cash mob, social media is used to bring a group of people together to shop at one business. The actual location is a secret until the last minute. And the Chamber isn’t giving out any hints.

The next cash mob is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27. The curious and ready-to-shop should meet at the Children’s Park gazebo in downtown Lake Orion, where the destination will be announced. Then on Tuesday, Dec. 11, the meeting place is the Lighthouse Building, 436 South Broadway.

For those who can’t make it on time, the Chamber will also announce the business destination at that time via Twitter, Facebook (Facebook.com/CashMobLakeOrion) and email.

“The store does know in advance,” said Alaina Campbell, the Chamber’s executive director. “We want them to be prepared.”  They may offer specials, coupons or refreshments too. “Whatever they want to do is welcome.”

These will be the Chamber’s third and fourth cash mobs. They are sponsored in conjunction with the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority and the Auburn Hills Chamber. The last one was held in October at Prizm Design on Baldwin. It seems to have done just what it was designed to do—get local people into a local business they might not otherwise have noticed.

“It was neat because you can tell from the comments from folks that they had never been in the shop before, and how cute it was,” Campbell said.

For the previous events, the destinations were announced in advance. But not this time. “A big part of the fun behind it is for the shoppers to not know,” Campbell said.

Cash mobs are designed to reinforce the idea of shopping local, and not just at the holidays.

“It’s something that we’re continuing to do year-round,” Campbell said. “The biggest idea behind it is we want to educate our local community about why it’s important to shop locally. For every $100 you spend locally, $68 of it stays in your local community. The more a dollar circulates in the local community, the more benefit you get. If it leaves, you lose that benefit.

“The second reason we do cash mobs is we want to help a local business. We have a lot of mom-and-pops in our community. We want to help expose them to the community.”