It was quiet at Building Character, a store on the 300 block of North Queen Street, before 11 a.m. Saturday.
A few people were looking at the vintage furniture and salvage items in one part of the store and the items of 40 or so independent merchants who sell everything from vintage clothing to handmade jewelry made out of recycled materials in the other part of the 10,000-square-foot store.
Then suddenly, at 11:15 a.m., a crowd started streaming into the store, many holding green shopping bags and cash.
Lancaster's first ever Cash Mob had arrived.
And when it was all said and done two hours later, owner Marty Hulse estimated close to 75 people mobbed the place.
Cash Mobs are popping up all over the country.
The idea was no doubt inspired by Flash Mobs, where people arrive in some public space en masse and break into song or dance.
But Cash Mobs involve arriving en masse at a local, independent store and spending at least $20 there.
And this Cash Mob crowd certainly opened its wallets.
"In an hour and 20 minutes, we made $1,000," Hulse said. "That is fantastic for a downtown, independent business."
Bolstering local business was what it was all about for the mob.
"It's about supporting your neighbors," Samantha McCully said as her curious daughter, Alyssa, 3, picked up a variety of items, some rather fragile, to show her. (Happily, nothing dropped or broke.)
"I have a small business and I like the idea of supporting other small businesses," said Steve Hohenwarter, of West Lampeter Township, who was there with his wife, Kelly, their two children, Jack, 4, and Tyler, 1, and a niece and nephew.
"We gave the kids $10 each to spend," he said. "And we love this building. This was a good excuse to come and do some shopping."
"And there is so much talent here," Kelly Hohenwarter added. "You don't need to go anywhere else."
Rick Frescatore, of Fresco Green, an ecofriendly store on West Chestnut Street that sells home items, began thinking about staging a Cash Mob here around Christmastime.
He put up a Facebook page and Twitter account to let people know about the event and got the support of Susquehanna Sustainable Business Network, which co-sponsored the mob.
"We picked Building Character because he had [about 40] businesses in this building. It was a good platform for launching it," he said.
And, it offered a wide range of prices.
"We knew about the Cash Mob about a month ago," Hulse explained. "Some [merchants] offered $20 specials and specific items under $20."
Hulse was not surprised to see plenty of regular customers at the Cash Mob, the same folks he sometimes sees at crowded First Friday nights, when the galleries and shops in downtown Lancaster stay open late and host special receptions.
"I've had my eye on an item for a while," said Sandra Tucker, of Lancaster. "I decided to purchase it today and support the Cash Mob."
"I think buying local is really catching on," Hulse said. "People are tired of cheap goods that aren't built to last. There's no need to buy fake wood furniture when you can get an old piece with a new lease on life for the same price."
And sometimes, local stores are the only place you can get certain items.
City resident Monica Marcinkoski was there with her two teenage daughters, Jena and Alena, looking at glass door handles.
"We live in an old house and the one in the spare room was broken," she explained. "We found just the right match."
She spent her $20 and then some. Her total bill was $37.10.
