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Sacramento Retailers Bring New Concepts To Compete With Online Giants

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Local retailers say they've been feeling the wrath of online giants like Amazon for awhile, and while some have gone out of business, some are taking the in-store experience to a new level.

The storefront of Art of Toys is colorful, but the inside brings you to a whole new world. From stained-glass kaleidoscopes to finger puppets with big eyes, Terri Rehg offers something in between a gallery and toy store. She calls the concept Toy Art.

"I'm not really a toy store, and not a full-fledged gallery," she said.

Rehg says she had to go outside the box to compete with rising online sales.

"I have people come in here right on their phone, go to Amazon to see how much it costs," she said. "It drives me crazy."

So we asked, what's the future of retail.

"I think what's gonna happen is it's going to evolve and the next generation's going to come and go, hey, you know what would be cool? Is if you could actually see the stuff," she said.

While in-store shopping can be fun, economists say more shoppers are going online for convenience.

The proof is down the street at what remains of another specialty store for toys, Dragatomi. The store shut down a few days after Christmas, but will soon operate as an online retailer.

Now landlord Mike Baddley is trying to fill the space.

"I think the major issue for boutiques are that they've got to be experienced business people, able to work the online environment, the social media," he said.

Other entrepreneurs are skipping the storefront altogether, selling their products at online marketplaces like Etsy.

Andy Lopez sold graphic designs on Etsy for $3 a PDF.

"You put pictures up of your product people can buy it and you ship it to them," he said.

Back at Toy Art, if Rehg had a crystal ball, she could predict which direction she could go. The store is already online, but the owner says she may soon be forced to close shop and join the online retailers full time.

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