Saturday, November 24 was "Small Business Saturday" across the nation. Supporting small business is more important than ever since it has been the main force driving the economic recovery. The idea came from American Express a few years back and was embraced by President Obama on Saturday, as he went Christmas shopping for his family at an independent book store. The question is, did this concept, sandwiched in between "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" have an impact in Sacramento? I decided to take my SacTV.com camera Downtown and to Old Sac to investigate on Saturday between noon and 2pm. Walking around the K Street Mall, which now has the title "The Kay," I did not find much action goi

Black Friday deals apparently brought out the worst in some in the Sacramento region, as the area made the news on several occasions for fights and threats over merchandise.  A fight broke out at the Roseville Galleria, shortly after midnight Friday, reportedly in front of a GameStop. Two men can be seen punching and kicking another person, and started after one man flung a trash can lid at another man, according to SFist.com.  In another incident, a man threatened to stab fellow customers at a Kmart as he walked through the doors early Friday morning. A customer told a news reporter she didn’t feel safe; a fight also apparently broke out at the store over a TV, according to the vide

Avoid the dreaded long lines and crowds at retail chains this Black Friday and consider turning your attention to the local shops and vendors in town. In fact, you can even take a pledge to shop local this season, courtesy of the Keep Your Green on the Grid campaign, organized by the Midtown Business Association and the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. Furthermore, Sacramento365.com's Local Marketplace section always fills up this time of year with myriad craft fairs, holiday shopping bazaars, and the like, which are great ways to get out and interact face-to-face with the people who create the gifts you are buying. In addition to pledging to keep your green on the grid, here are some sh

Black Friday: To some, it’s THE day to kick off the Christmas shopping season and snag unbelievable deals on high-end items, even if it means camping overnight or cutting a Thanksgiving meal short. To others, it’s a day to avoid shopping centers at all costs. The Sacramento Press asked locals to share their Black Friday plans, strategies and experiences. Here is what they had to say: Ramona Powell, a 54-year-old transportation consultant from Sacramento, said she plans to do some shopping on Friday. “I’ve looked online at what Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target, JC Penney’s and Macy’s have,” she said. “My tradition has been to go out at about 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving and camp out.” She said h

This eight-year-old Jack Russell Terrier mix is both sweet and friendly. He is fairly typical of his breed in that he is very smart, confident and independent, but he’s also a big lover! Positive reinforcement training would help him focus his energy and learn even more commands than he already knows. Mr. Smokey would do best in a somewhat active home with experienced adult owners (older kids and other dogs ok). He is eligible for our Senior for Senior Program in which adoption fees are waived for adopters who are at least sixty-years-old and adopting animals over the age of five.   *Join us on Black Friday and during the weekend for some very special adoption deals! All black (and mostly

Thanksgiving evening at 11pm, Ed Fogle and I joined forces to capture the Black Friday shopping frenzies. Our adventure began at Arden Fair Mall. Here is a timeline: 11:49pm - Thanksgiving evening Traffic at Arden Fair Mall was ongoing. Busses continuously dropped shoppers off. 12:01 AM At the front of the mall, the line's tail-end of shoppers were sprinting to get through the doors. 12:04 AM Elevators were packed. Shoppers were packing into stores! Apple was busy! Shoppers with bags streamed out of Macy's. 1:47 AM Fry's Electronics at Northgate Blvd had a long line of shoppers trying to stay warm in 34 degrees. The woman in the blue cap arrived at 10am Thanksgiving.  

Apple's App store features thousands of apps that iPhone and iPod Touch users can download daily. One app in particular that will mostly likely only be viewed around Thanksgiving is titled: "Black Friday", an event shoppers go bonkers for. Well now they'll have the perfect guide to plan out there day as they bounce from store to store.  The morning after Thanksgiving stores open hours earlier than usual and have multiple items on sale throughout the store. Stores such as Best Buy have lines wrapping around the building full of eager shoppers waiting to rush in the store and grab everything they can just because it's a big sale that only happens once a year.  Last year, Tilly's, the cloth

This Black Friday seemed to be the year of the flat screen televisions. In almost every cart at Fry's Electronics was a giant flat screen TV sitting in a tilted position in carts. Shopping on Black Friday is pure insanity. It's the frenzy of the event that has drawn me in for the second year. Fry's Electronics this year was no exception. This was my first Black Friday at Fry's. Black Friday gets its name from the economics of the day. Generally it's the day of the year when retailers become profitable or "go into the black." And it's always the Friday after Thanksgiving. As with many establishments, when I showed up at 4:30 A.M. I was about 800th in line. The line took me to parts of t