Sacramento has never been known to be a place that is “ahead of the times” in any spectrum of life. As a matter of fact, most travelers come into the city expecting to see people ringing cowbells, and tumble weeds blowing past them on desolate streets. You see, no one acknowledges the rising growth of the urban market, or the fact that Sacramento is now the home of mall conglomerates that sell the "urban" look to suburban teens. They don’t talk about the city's recent sprawl of niche specific boutiques that are only found in major cities around the world. Except if you were around four years ago nurturing the very culture to which the stores are trying to solicit.

Meet Paul and Brandy Brizuela, owners of UnitedState Boutique. Paul and Brandy established the moderate sized boutique back in 2005, with one simple goal in mind: to fill a void in the Sacramento urban culture. Although it sounds easy, getting to that point was not as glamorous. The couple built one of the last DJ/Boutiques in Sacramento that fully support local independent music and DJ culture. And they did it amongst a marriage, three children, two jobs, and monthly bills. There were no gimmicks or tricks to get customers to continue to shop at their store, nor do they have secret "selling drugs to make rent" stories lurking in the past. Paul says they have spent the last four years earning their keep, and doing it the only way they know how: hard work.

"I hear stories all the time about how some of these places got started or keep running, and it amazes me." Paul says. "It was never like that for us. I guess we did it the hard way."

And with the recent fall of vinyl record sales, their path became that much harder. Just two years ago, Paul and Brandy were looking down the barrel of a load gun when it came to numbers and meeting their sales quotas. But instead of doing what others did in the shaky economic times, they decided to do what other boutiques couldn’t: reinvent the wheel by creating a fully functioning lifestyle store in the heart of Midtown Sacramento.

"We reinvented UnitedState as a lifestyle store, and we now carry a broader spectrum of product that you can't get at any other store," Paul says. "Most stores only carry pieces of the culture, but we have designed our store to encompass it all.

Now, four years later, you can see that all the hard work that Paul and Brandy put into the store is paying off. They are celebrating their fourth year in business, and they are enjoying every moment of the growth. UnitedState has managed to accomplish what other boutiques would consider ideal in today's market. Not only are sales steadily increasing, UnitedState has managed to create an expansive brand that holds a dominant position in Fashion, Music, Arts, and Events.

So help them celebrate the fourth year in business this weekend by stopping by the shop and saying congrats!