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One of the first ideas to complement the restaurant and bar was selling souvenirs. I remember showing a sample of the porcelain ash tray to Bill Willis. He took an admiring look at it and said, “My dear, that has ‘steal me’ written all over it!” Seeing the truth in this observation I had “Casablanca” added to the ash trays and mugs and we had our first souvenir items. Our sales line expanded with T-shirts, 1st anniversary commemorative glasses, postcards, posters, a water carafe, our 2nd anniversary book, “The legend continues...” and autographed copies of our menu. From our website we constantly receive inquiries about our line of “Rick’s Gear” souvenirs, and while we don’t sell online yet, we searched for ways to reach local tourists and visitors who might not pass by the restaurant. It came as a bolt out of the blue one day, an obvious place to sell souvenirs...the Marche Central! The picturesque Marche is a regular stop on the sightseeing tours of Casablanca, and there seemed to be some spaces available. We started talking with our vendor friends. That was almost one year ago. As usual, and especially for a new and slightly offbeat idea, it took time – a lot of time – to make all the arrangements. In the end we went into partnership with Mustapha our vegetable dealer and designed a stand and awning. We found a carved cedar cabinet from Meknes with a glass display top that will serve as the sales counter. With the plans and work proceeding finally at a fast pace, there remained a final detail. Who would staff the stand? A small crisis at the restaurant answered that question. Ismail, who is the greeter at the door of Rick’s Café, and who sells the souvenirs during the evening along with managing the reservation desk, had been having difficulties getting into his apartment building when he returned late at night. He had earlier intimated to some colleagues that he’d prefer to work during the day, but I had been reluctant to relegate one of Rick’s key personalities to only the luncheon service. When Ismail was out 5 days for health reasons the idea came up to post him at the Marche Central. After all, he more than anyone was adept at selling Rick’s Gear, spoke fluent English in addition to French and was completely trustworthy. With the Marche closing at 1, he could be back at Rick’s in time to greet guests for lunch…maybe even some of the people he’d met in the morning. The stand is almost finished, and the stock is being replenished. The American market has depleted our stock of white XL T-shirts, and new ones are on order. In the meantime they’ll have to settle for black. Knock wood “Rick’s Gear” at the Marche Central will open tomorrow, Saturday, June 10.
K.K.
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