Will the Decentralized Dance Party scheduled for Houston this weekend even happen? Not if fundraising goals aren’t met in time, declares the event’s Facebook page, and with less than 10 hours left only $591 of the required $999 has been raised on Kickstarter. What’s a Decentralized Dance Party? Exactly what it sounds like: a portable event made possible by a radio transmitter, lots of boomboxes, and at least dozens — and in most cities it’s been thousands — of committed partygoers ready to travel wherever the party takes them and all moving to the same synchronized beat. Begun in Canada a few years ago, the event is hitting Houston at least in part because one of the event’s originators, Gary Lachance (on the right wearing sunglasses in the above video), was also part of a small group of people that bought the entire contents of a small grocery store in New York’s West Village last year — on credit, just for kicks:

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The Store Buyout team — which also includes Kyle MacDonald, known as that guy who traded a paper clip for a house — then listed the items for sale, as art, on its website. Purchasers of the “cheap-looking, brown briefcase with the plastic handle” the team used to bring in the cash for the epic buyout, also on credit? Houstonians Tina Berger and Kimberley Cambron, for $10,000. If this weekend’s Houston party is a bust, the Store Buyout team will at least be on hand to take part in the “Taking Care of Business” flashmob Berger and Cambron have organized to go with it, scheduled for earlier on Saturday at Discovery Green downtown.

• Decentralized Dance Party- HOUSTON EDITION! [Kickstarter]
• Decentralized Dance Party- Houston Edition! [Facebook]
• Items for Sale [Store Buyout]
• The $10,000 Briefcase [Guided Passages]
• Final Mission Briefing [Taking Care of Business Flashmob]

Videos: Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party and Store Buyout