I have never heard them say that it might have been a "storekeeper's rush," or something of that sort.
It was contemptuously called a 'storekeeper's rush', designed to revive interest in Larkinville and bring men to the town.
In the case of Paul's Creek it is more than likely to be a storekeeper's rush.
The Kimberley gold rush turned out to be a storekeeper’s rush and, because the shipping companies promoted it so heavily in New Zealand, it cost the people from there dearly.
Some were described as "storekeeper's rushes," as even a bogus find would force up the price of goods.
They had been brought out here on a wild-goose chase - it was a storekeeper's rush.