Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Farewell to the Casbah



This is Gates of Morocco, one of my fave stores.
Or it was—it closed recently.  The owners had been 
paying the rent out of their pocket for a while.
It still exists on the Internet, but like I told them: 
Coming into this place was almost like stepping into 
the souk in Marrakesh or Tangier.  It's just not the 
same online (I hate this ^&$#* economy).

8 comments:

  1. Oh, poor them and poor you. At least they have their online store but similar to the discussion at PDP about printing, it's nothing like the sensation of actually being there in the shop. I still fantasise sometimes about having a small interiors/accessories shop but don't have the nerve to take on those overheads and don't think I'd cope well if people weren't walking through the door regularly. So I paint such things instead!

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  2. One possible solution to your dilemma might be to use purchases at the website to furnish, in a like manner as the storefront, a room in your vacation home, complete with incense, resins, and myrrhs. Then you could have the same kind of holistic environmental experience of being within that environment rather than trying to peer at it through the myriad tiny little keyholes of the online site.

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  3. I'm very sorry to hear about your favorite shop. I am hoping small businesses make a come back once the tide turns.
    I am VERY happy however that you have shared the name of your restaurant. Thank you Alexa. I will be visiting them the next time I'm in Manhattan. Could you please tell me the name of that dish you had? It really does look perfect.
    Thanks again Alexa.

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  4. TG -- how did you get that picture of my little vacation cottage?
    When I think of what these things cost in Morocco when I was there in the early '70s (almost nothing—but since I had less than that at the time . . .)

    Lily -- the name of that dish is "would you please make me a big bowl of soup, with some greens and sprouts and egg noodles and a little bit of meat."

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  5. The first time around I thought to add this link but didn't.

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  6. Boy, they are cool dudes. And Alexa, "American ladies five-foot tall in blue." Whaddya know.

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  7. Waaay after the fact: perfect link. TG—and Shell, we really must meet anon to see which of us is actually the taller ( or shorter!).

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  8. Is Anon short, too? Anon certainly gets around ... bobs up here and there on several of the blogs I visit.

    It does sound like an excellent idea, Alexa!

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Thanks, merci, grazie, danke, hvala, gracias, spasibo, shukran, dhanyavaad, salamat, arigato, and muito obrigado for your much-appreciated comments.