Flash mob helps save Atlanta Black woman-owned business

ATLANTA - An Atlanta business is staying open after an amazing response from the community thanks to two entrepreneurs and social media.

A little over two months ago, Aisha Taylor Issah, the owner of The Sistah Shop ATL in Atlantic Station, turned to social media to help save her store.

"While it has been an incredible run, these last several months - almost a year really - have been really difficult, and we have barely been staying afloat," Issah said.

She said that, despite all her efforts, the store, which gives retail space to Black women-owned businesses, was at risk of closing.

Her plea got the attention of entrepreneur Nehemiah Davis and influencer David Shands, and the two men got to work.

What happened next was something that Issah could never have imagined.

This week, a huge flash mob showed up at her store and dropped a lot of cash on merchandise.

"We always had this vision of, ‘I want to flash mob businesses, and we want to go buy all everything off the shelves.’ So I said, Hey, we got to bring this to Atlanta. So I posted on Instagram and called Shands to mobilize people to come out," Davis told Black Enterprise. "[We] came up with a story around it to really put it out and make it even greater. And really, the rest was history. She did like $14,000 in sales, so this is her best day she’s ever had in business."

According to the store's Instagram post, Issah was at church when the flash mob was at the store, "praying for a miracle."

In the video, Issah was overcome with emotion at the support, telling the crowd, "I had no idea."