You'll find everything here. Variety: from home furnishings to garden decor, and apparel from head to toe. Trendiness: blending Moroccan and contemporary styles, it feels familiar yet surprisingly different. Quality: traditional skills have been enhanced with modern equipment, streamlined production, and innovative techniques. Quantity: bespoke pieces sit alongside standard models, allowing both hotels to outfit their spaces and wholesalers to stock up as needed. Service: genuine practical and aesthetic advice is provided by experts who know their clientele. Organization: the chain is complete with local delivery drivers and international carriers on-site.
Sidi Ghanem thus offers a valuable alternative between craftsmanship and industry.
In Casablanca, the country's industrial hub, the shift to mass production has come at the expense of cultural elements. Economic decision-makers could take a leaf from Sidi Ghanem's book. Here, the human element remains central, a source of undeniable value… and some inevitable challenges! This wonderful world indeed calls for a real budget and, in cases of specific or large orders, a significant measure of patience.
Production workshops that initially had only a humble shelf for display now boast state-of-the-art showrooms. A recent shift towards opening mere retail outlets echoes a trend well-known in artisanal sectors in the souks.
As workshops grow and evolve, so does their client base: professionals came first, initially from nearby, then from other regions, and eventually, private individuals joined them. Even foreign tourists make the detour, sometimes brought by travel agencies or through word of mouth that has crossed the Mediterranean. Whatever its commercial development may hold, let's hope the area retains its originality and interaction. To honor this blossoming, the area deserves to be enhanced.
Perhaps a renaming could be in order. Why not 'Lalla Akkal', in tribute to the first ceramic workshop that, unknowingly when it set up in 1998, sparked such a dynamic?
Most importantly, it could be truly established as a neighborhood: enhance public transport by attracting small taxis, introduce public furniture for the comfort of both workers and visitors, and guide users with clear, comprehensive, and updated signage. The needs and possibilities are plentiful! Given the developments in many districts of Marrakech, there's no doubt Sidi Ghanem will eventually benefit.
Meanwhile, professionals sometimes coordinate to draw attention. Go see for yourself, a clearance sale is happening until October 10, 2011. Seventeen shops are participating, creating a temporary souk-like atmosphere!
Directions
Main access via the road from Safi, taking the first left after the bridge.
Alternate access by following the railway station and then the tracks.
Opening hours for showrooms: most are open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm, often staying open over lunch. Some open on Saturday morning, and very few also in the Saturday afternoon.
Text and photo Sandrine Dole