"Less than a generation ago, shopping in the Sacramento area was like visiting a small-town chili parlor — the menu had few choices and relied heavily on some old favorites.

Today, the retail landscape is a smorgasbord of major malls, big-box power centers, upscale plazas and discount chains, each vying for the shopping dollars of the region's 1.75 million residents."
—Mark Glover, "Going with the Flow," Sacramento Bee, March 19, 2000