Abner Richet, a social work student at the University of Washington in Seattle, had been on his first visit to the nation’s capital for only a few hours before he started shopping for souvenirs marking the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama .

“It was a historical moment for me when I got here,” Richet said, as he stood in a 5,000-square-foot all-Obama souvenir shop that has opened at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., just a block away from the White House. He proudly showed off his first purchase, a $3 montage poster of Obama and his family. “It’s for my mother. She’s a huge Obama fan,” said Richet, whose family lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Such shopping excursions are fueling a mini-boom in the Washington souvenir trade, keyed to the election of Obama and his Jan. 20 inauguration, which is expected to draw record crowds to Washington.

Already, the street vendors who set up shop on downtown Washington sidewalks have pushed aside the T-shirts and hats emblazoned with “FBI” or “CIA” to make way for Obama T-shirts, hats and sweatshirts. It’s practically impossible to find any souvenir with the likeness of departing President Bush. In the souvenir world, he’s yesterday’s news.

For veterans of the political memorabilia trade, Obama’s arrival on the scene has been a godsend in tough economic times. Jim Warlick, owner of the new shop near the White House — part of his Political Americana mini-chain — says he has never seen anything like the excitement and the shopping interest surrounding Obama’s inauguration. “It’s going to be the best, and this is my eighth inauguration,” Warlick said.

By the time of the Jan. 20 celebrations, the District of Columbia plans to license 500 street vendors to hawk their Obama wares to crowds that local officials now estimate could total 1 million to 2 million people, a record for a presidential swearing-in.

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