It may be that, with the addition of the Linq promenade and the expansion of existing malls, the Strip has reached its saturation point for retail. Such a development was probably inevitable and rolling out the Grand Bazaar just in time for summertime heat waves wasn’t the best idea, either. Caesars Entertainment, however, is unlikely to simply scrap its $50 million investment. As with its observation wheel, the Vegas High Roller, which has fallen short of ridership projections, Caesars is likely to retool its marketing of the Grand Bazaar – and probably wait for more clement weather to improve foot traffic. But, for now, the status quo looks pretty dire.
Wahlburgers still has a designated space at the Grand Bazaar, but its opening has been demoted to a "possible" late-2015 date, according to a company press release. Lynnfield, Massachusetts, Coney Island, Fenway Park and Toronto Pearson International Airport are all definite, while Orlando, Philadelphia, New York and Las Vegas – in that order – were in the "possible" category. The chain’s Twitter feed allowed only that, with regard to Vegas, "It’s taking longer than expected." The Vegas Chatter blog reported that the Wahlberg lads were checking out possible spaces in the (much busier) Linq mall.
According to Vegas Eater’s Bradley Martin, Starbucks will be the anchor tenant at the Grand Bazaar that Wahlburgers was supposed to be. Anchor tenants SkinnyFats and Nacho Daddy are also reported by Martin to be four to five months away.
As for the hellfire-and-brimstone hecklers, we can’t afford you much comfort on that front either. Legal precedent has firmly established that Las Vegas Strip sidewalks are free-speech zones, so there’s nothing the Grand Bazaar can do about them. You’ll have to take your shopping with a side order of sidewalk preaching.
