“It feels like a grown-up Sesame Street,” said Nicolas Heller, a documentarian who shares stories about the city on his Instagram account @newyorknico.
William Grand, a D.J. who manufactures Casa’s merchandise through his company Neighborhood Spot, described Mr. Ahmed using a laser pointer to help shoppers navigate the inventory from his perch behind the counter. “They have over 2,000 titles, but he knows exactly where stuff is,” he said.
Julianne Moore would bring her children to browse every week while they were growing up. “Ali in particular was always giving my kids candy,” the Oscar-winning actress said, adding that the managers “always remember you.”
“Also,” Ms. Moore noted, “as an actor, if you end up on the cover of something and you’re a local, they’ll put 15 of those magazines in the window. It’s really sweet.”
When brands started reaching out to Ms. David to “take over” those same display windows to promote their products, she initially hesitated. “I feel like it’s a risk because Casa is an institution,” she said. But partnerships could also be a new source of revenue, especially during the pandemic. “You have to really think, ‘Does this align?’ ‘Is it responsible?’”
In 2019, Pat McGrath hosted a beauty pop-up inside Casa, calling it her “favorite store in the world.” The following year, Valentino’s American publicists — both longtime customers — asked if Mr. Ahmed would be interested in promoting the label’s first coffee table book, which featured the work of 26 independent magazines.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/style/casa-magazines-west-village.html
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