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From
Day 1 we've
had the idea to sell souvenirs at Rick's.
I remember showing a sample of the porcelain ash
tray to Bill Willis, who took one look at it and
said, admiringly, "My dear, that has 'steal me'
written all over it!" Seeing the truth in his
observation I had "Casablanca" added to the ash
trays and mugs, designating them to be sold and
hopefully protecting the more generic plates,
salt and pepper shakers and cups and saucers which
only said "Rick's Cafe." Ash trays did disappear
from tables, so we started selling them. The mugs
came - minus the "Casablanca". The dealer - who
said she'd make good on her mistake - had "Casablanca"
added here and it was off-center! "Ce n'est pas
grave," she said, repeating Morocco's most over-used
phrase. "C'est grave," said the perfectionist
in me as I resigned myself to selling them for
just what we'd paid. So after a rocky start we
used the New Year to finally "gear up."
It started with delivery on New Year's Eve of
a new supply of ash trays and properly done mugs.
We finally had a real stock. A few weeks later
our first order of t-shirts came in - basic black
with our logo on front and "I've Been There!" on the back. We were in business! Issam designed
a display window and posters that we used for
internal marketing. The popularity of our 1st
year anniversary postcard led us to package up
a set of 5 views. By mid-June we'll receive old-fashioned
glasses with the logo and script commemorating
our first year anniversary. A second style t-shirt
is in the works, as well as - thanks to the number
of American visitors - re-ordering of our basic
model in XXL and XL!! And in response to numerous
requests, and a more efficient design, we're selling
our menu, autographed.
K.K.
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