Exotic, eclectic bazaar comes to Deal Casablanca gives shoppers marketplace aura BY GLORIA STRAVELLI Staff Writer Linda Levy has designed her Deal gift shop to resemble a busy marketplace filled with costume jewelry, antiques and collectibles. Linda Levy wanted her Deal gift shop to conjure up the ambiance of an exotic bazaar. So she filled every corner of the store’s interior to overflowing with beautiful, unusual, and even some rare, baubles like designer costume jewelry, vintage accessories and one-of-a-kind tchotchkes. “I wanted the store to look like a marketplace in Morocco,” said Levy. “So I have a lot of jewelry hanging. When you walk in you feel it’s a busy market in a city somewhere.” Stepping inside Casablanca, at 248 Norwood Avenue, is like visiting a far-away market teeming with wares, with Levy as the enthusiastic guide. The focus of the shop is definitely jewelry — costume, designer costume, sterling, retro, vintage and children’s — in styles from casual to classic to elegant. The store’s motto “More jewelry than you can possibly imagine” isn’t an exaggeration. CHRIS KELLY staff By Levy’s estimate there are more than 500 pairs of earrings displayed at Casablanca, from demure stud earrings to outrageous chandeliers in myriad designs, colors and combinations - all at carefully set price points. The extensive selection and accessible pricing have not been overlooked by shoppers. “The response has been great. If you look at my prices, they are really, really reasonable,” Levy said. “There are chandelier earrings for $14, and I have a lot of earrings at $7 and $10.” Standouts among Casablanca’s vast selection of fine quality costume jewelry are exclusive collections by several well-known costume jewelry designers. Original designs by Israeli jewelry designer Michal Negrin feature rhinestones in unusual hues like pale pink, soft aqua and warm brown. Necklaces and bracelets by Negrin are intricate confections of rhinestones, enamel flowers and beads layered on brass filigree and fabric backing. “They’re drop-dead gorgeous pieces,” Levy said, adding that Negrin’s designs are sold in upscale stores like Neiman Marcus. At Casablanca, the jeweler’s pieces are priced 20 percent below high-end outlets, she said, adding that necklaces range from $86 to $365 and earrings range up to $55. Designer Anne Koplik’s vintage-inspired designs are each signed pieces. “I love her stuff,” said Levy. “You can see her jewelry in magazines because it’s very popular with soap opera stars. It has a special look to it. Her colors are wonderful and unusual like light blue and amethyst rhinestones, and she’s known for her bright flowers. “They’re very pretty, very unusual pieces.” Koplik designs are less pricey and more affordable, Levy said, running from $12-$56. A third costume jewelry designer featured at Casablanca is Cheryl Reis whose designs have a classic, understated look. “They’re for people who don’t want vintage and flowery,” Levy said. “Her jewelry is good quality and pretty design.” Earrings by Reis run from $16 to $34. Necklaces in the collection “have softer, subtler colors and a pared-down look,” Levy said, showing off a long strand of brown pearl beads and pink crystals strung on gunmetal that sells for $50 at Casablanca. While earrings predominate, the shop also has sections devoted to bracelets and necklaces in a wide variety of styles from funky to glittery, ethnic to cosmopolitan, including pieces with oversized beads in earthy tones that are the current rage. Brooches also have their own nook, as do scarves and belts. Fans of sterling silver, marcasite and cubic zirconia jewelry will find them in their own niche that includes rings, bracelets, pendants and earrings. To carry out the marketplace theme, Levy has draped, hung and placed jewelry throughout, to opulent effect. She’s succeeded in creating the feeling of an earlier epoch by using authentic details like a vintage dresser top and vanity trays from the 1950s which she searches for at estate sales and auctions. In yet another section, Casablanca has an extensive selection of hair ornaments for adults and children. “Tons,” Levy notes, “from casual to dressy, scrunchies to rhinestone tiaras, plus clips, pins, bands, bows and barrettes.” Levy calls her collection of accessories for the younger set her “children’s room” and has assembled a collection of children’s costume and sterling jewelry. To make the marketplace at Casablanca even more eclectic, Levy has added home accessories including china trinket boxes, antique china figurines, vintage Capodimonte lamps, hand-painted jewelry boxes and has plans to expand the shop’s selection of small antique reproduction furniture pieces. For collectors there is a display of miniature and small-scale china tea sets and teapots, A Judaica section features burnished leather charity boxes, challah boards and tea boxes and there are sections devoted to giftware and men’s furnishings . No novice at business, Levy, of Elberon, has segued into retail after a career in the wholesale costume jewelry and hair accessories business in New York and New Jersey. She and husband Buddy preside over the 1,000-square-feet of the kaleidoscopic gift shop that is open Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.; and Sunday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Levy said she feels she’s achieved the eclecticism she set out to create at Casablanca. “It’s a touch-me store with stuff put out where people can look at things,” Levy said. “Jewelry is everywhere, draped on display racks, on miniature mannequins and vintage pieces. It’s the little things that give character to the store.”