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"I feel proud" | Local creatives design, sell Sacramento Kings merchandise

With the Kings' continuous wins, many local creatives and businesses have continued sharing some Sacramento pride with the community.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings have made their way to the playoffs after a 17-year playoff drought and are 1-0 against the Warriors in their first series.

With the continuous wins, many local creatives and businesses have continued sharing that Sacramento pride with the community.

Pregame Vintage is a clothing store that buys, sells and trades vintage clothing. The store is located at 716 K Street, right across from the Golden 1 Center.

It's an instant trip down memory lane with a vintage Kings collection in the front of the shop for the "OG" Kings fans. The collection ranges from Mike Bibby jerseys to Bobby Jackson t-shirts.

"We try not to sell out, but almost every day someone's coming in for at least one Kings item," said Brandon Sanchez, co-owner of Pregame Vintage. "We only have vintage Kings items, so it's a lot of older players like Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Jason Williams, Peja Stojaković -- you know, all the original players from the 2000s." 

Being that they're right across from where the Sacramento Kings have their home games, Sanchez mentioned they get a lot of business when the Kings win and the beam is lit.

"Especially with the beam being lit after every win, people sometimes just stay in the area to look at the beam. After the games, there are a lot of people roaming K Street, and it's good to see everyone in good spirits. It honestly brings in good foot traffic for us as well."

As a business owner and as a Kings fan at a young age, Sanchez is excited to see the Kings in the playoffs for the first time in a long time. 

"Honestly, it's about time," said Sanchez. "I've been waiting for this. I haven't had this in my adult life, so it's a cool experience. Overall, I feel like Sacramento's becoming more of a destination-type city. With the Kings winning, there's like a vibe around the city, and it makes people want to come to Sacramento and experience that."

1-Up Retro Clothing is a vintage clothing store that buys, sells, and trades current vintage fashion. They offer high-quality vintage garments for women and men from the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s.

Located at 3400 Broadway, it first started as a brick-and-mortar about three years ago purely out of a passion for garments and storytelling. Their goal is to be a creative hub for the community.

"It's not always about the actual garment but more so the story that's behind it," said Vincent Edwards, co-owner of 1-Up Retro Clothing. 

Now with the Sacramento Kings making it to the playoffs, 1-Up Retro Clothing has seen an increase in demand for both current and vintage merchandise. 

To keep the Sacramento pride alive, they even have a Kings section for all the fans to check out from vintage letterman jackets to De'Aaron Fox jerseys.

"Even before they were doing as well as they are now, we would constantly get requests for Kings merch. Now it's even more so hard to keep in," said Edwards.

Edwards has been an honorary Sacramentan for 12 years. Seeing the Kings in the playoffs, he said is a great feeling and he even notices it within the community.

"It makes me feel proud," said Edwards. "Of course we didn't know when it would happen, but I think everyone knew the Kings could make it happen and it's great to be able to witness it."

1-Up Retro Clothing hosts a monthly vintage market called the Saturday Love Market, which takes place at Esther's Park in Oak Park every third Saturday of the month. The market aims to showcase creatives and features over 20 local brands and businesses. 

"We allow a lot of creators to put their garments in our shop for exposure and in a sense, we're putting other people on from the community," said Edwards. "We've been able to create kind of like a subculture within the vintage community and now with the Kings winning, you can see that pride shining through."

Cre8tive Contents is a custom t-shirt and printing shop that provides everything from graphic design and embroidery to promotional brands and customized items.

Located at 8131 Alpine Avenue, Cre8tive Contents' goal is to offer an all-inclusive brand-building identity and one-stop-shop solution. 

"For one thing, I started making T-shirts and then it just kind of grew from there," said Timothy Flores, owner and operator of Cre8tive Contents. 

Flores has been in Sacramento for 21 years and he's witnessed the Kings making it to the playoffs before. Now as a business owner and operator, he's been getting a lot of requests for current Kings merchandise, especially with phrases like "Light The Beam" and "Beam Team". 

"Back in 2000 to 2003 Kings era, they're the ones that really put Sacramento on the map," said Flores. "Seeing the Kings now progress after all these years and then putting themselves back into the playoffs, it really solidifies the whole town vibe for them."

Flores found that the perseverance the Kings have as a team resonates with the perseverance that local artists and creatives have as well as the city of Sacramento overall.

"For a minute, we never saw any wins from the Kings but they just kept going," said Flores. "Now we have phrases like 'Light the Beam', so I think it's very cool that there are these creatives and even normal Sacramento residents that start to become creatives by just picking out elements and making a brand out of it."

When it comes to the Sacramento Kings, everyone hopes that the Sacramento pride continues and leads the city to a championship! 

WATCH MORE ON ABC10: Sacramento Kings merch in high demand pre-playoffs

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