Paavan Patel grew up in a family that sold clothing for team sports in the Bay Area.

"I wanted to do something a little different," said Patel, 26.

The soaring popularity of action sports, including mixed martial arts, offered something really different, Patel decided.

He launched his Eminent clothing store in the thick of a recession, which, for him, offered opportunity. It's the perfect time for a budding business to sign unprecedented deals in prime retail locations, he said.

He opened a store three months ago in Arden Fair mall and is planning another opening in July at the Westfield Galleria at Roseville.

The store on the second level of Arden Fair is a 1,300-square-foot retail homage to the wildly popular sport of cage fighting with graphic T-shirts, baseball caps and shorts from lines such as TapouT.

The Sacramento region would seem the perfect incubator for Patel's store given that the area hosts a handful of mixed-martial-arts gyms, including one owned by homegrown favorite Urijah Faber of World Extreme Cagefighting fame.

Patel opened his first store at Westfield Downtown Plaza in October 2007, but it failed to catch on there so he opened at a Stockton mall.

That store performed better, but then an opportunity to open in what he considered an ideal location arose, so he closed in Stockton to move to Arden Fair.

"It's not the first time I've looked at that center," Patel said of Arden. But previous offers weren't financially feasible, he said.

Now he is able to lease for what he believes is half what the former tenant paid, he said.

It's an opportunity of a lifetime, he said.

"A place like Arden Fair is more of a destination, and it draws from satellite cities," he said.

He has also opened stores in San Jose and Santa Rosa.

With other partners, he has also opened a store in Marysville, Ind., and two stores in suburban Chicago, where he sees potential because the market is not as saturated and overhead is lower.

In Indiana, his store lease is a fourth of what he pays in California, he said.

"Out there in the Midwest, this is all new," he said of his store line, which includes some women's clothing. "We've been getting a pretty good response."

Six Flags sails on

Operations at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo will not be affected by the bankruptcy proceedings announced Saturday by parent company Six Flags Inc. a park spokeswoman said.

"We're running on high with a lot of things going on this year," said spokeswoman Nancy Chan.

The 135-acre park, which draws visitors from throughout Northern California, is one of the company's 20 amusement parks.

Season passes or any other advance purchases remain valid, she said, and the park will be introducing new shows this summer, including Odin's Temple of the Tiger, featuring a rare white Bengal that dives underwater. A concert series begins on June 24.

The company is reorganizing because of debt and has no plans to close, officials said.

The park is open daily during summer months and is generally open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a 9 p.m. closing on Saturdays.

A season pass is $59.99, just $15 more than a single daily adult admission at the gate and less than last year's pass price.

Bargain hunters can buy an online daily admission for $29.99 at www.sixflags.com/ discoveryKingdom/index.aspx.

Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106.