Swanberg’s, via YelpIf the rain lets up in the middle of the day this weekend, and you need to head out to fill your stockings this holiday season by patronizing some local shops, the nexus of 24th-26th and Jay Street is your best bet. With shops like University Art, Fleet Feet, Dragatomi, Book Collector, Mixed Bag, and Swanberg’s, there’s bound to be something for everybody. The family and I strolled it over the weekend and it’s a fun time even for the little ones.
As a counterpoint to my own post, I’d like to get something off my chest. I do love University Art but I have to say that shopping there the last few years hasn’t been the same experience as it once was. I can’t quite pin it down but something about their offerings for kids is not doing it for me anymore. All the art supplies for kids lean toward the Crayola/Rose Art side of things — stuff you can get for much, much cheaper at Target. There are lots of kitschy/retro toy items but for some reason it seems disjointed. It seems like what originally made it such a great shop was the odd crafty kits for kids and that seems to be lacking from the current product lineup. Has anyone else had this feeling?
University Art
2601 J St
Sacramento, CA 9581
(916) 443-5721
Fleet Feet
2311 J St
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 442-3338
Book Collector
1008 24th St
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 442-9295
Mixed Bag
2405 K St
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 447-6123
Swanberg’s on J
2316 J St
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 447-6284
The Sac Rag 
What is Dragatomi? Whenever I’m at Fleet Feet, I peek in the window next door, and I guess I don’t get it. Japanimation dolls? Am I missing out on some cool new trend?
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Action figures for grown-ups. They are a common feature of the hipster parts of town in many cities–Kid Robot, a very similar store, has locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
I like Dragatomi. Everything in there is completely useless but simultaneously pretty awesome, and if I had a ton more shelf space for useless tchotchkes (and money to buy them) I would buy more stuff there. You can buy an action figure there of a tiny, angry cigarette, smoking a smaller cigarette.
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When I visited last weekend I was looking at Simpsons and Futurama figurines. But yeah basically Anime tchotchkes and such.
Japanimation? What year do you think it is? 🙂
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