Inspiration can strike at any time. For local entrepreneur Chris Smith (co-founder and CEO of Community Beer Works – CBW), inspiration strikes whenever this city needs help. Smith originally founded the concept of Cash Mob, conceived to support small businesses by fueling them with a spike in cashflow. This was done by rallying “mobs” of people to purchase their goods during one-off events. The concept was such as success, that it was emulated in other cities.
It’s no surprise that Smith is now churning out another business-fortifying idea that teams businesses together to do what they do best – make some money, especially when facing adversities such as pandemics. By uniting together to establish curbside pop-ups, we see the makings for the perfect storm of commercial collaboration, while at the same time ensuring that all social distancing measures are followed.
To start, Smith tried out the curbside pop-up “collab” yesterday, as CBW joined forces with Mister Goodbar. This is the first co-branding initiative that saw two like-minded entities, sharing a similar economic space, making the best of a dire situation.
“It’s a new twist on my old cash mob concept,” explained Smith. “The idea here is to set up pop-up sales locations in front of bars, taverns, and pubs that shuttered due to coronavirus. They aren’t open because they can’t feasibly pull off a takeout operation, so we think we found a way to share a little love. Once a week, we’ll find a bar in need and we’ll bring them some love, attention, and some sales. Everybody wins! We sell our packaged beer for a few hours and share the sales proceeds with the bar owner. They can also set up and sell whatever they like, gift cards, merch, etc., and keep those proceeds as well. [Yesterday] the turnout was excellent and it was really great to see Bobby Raab, owner of Mister Goodbar, reconnecting with customers and selling gift cards alongside us. Goodbar is a Buffalo institution and we’ll do everything we can to support our friends in need. This is the first of many pop-ups like this around WNY, we’re excited to see how it grows. When you build community in all that you do, good things happen – it’s an easy way to help people make a few bucks!”
To see who’s on tap next, to partner with CBW for a curbside pop-up, simply stay tuned to the CBW Facebook page and on Instagram.