Las Vegas remains lumbered with journalistic dinosaur Sherman Frederick, a grumbling, blogging old fussbudget who predicts doom and gloom as he tucks into his stewed prunes every morning. I’ve never run across anybody who rooted against their home town so vigorously. There’s no economic indicator that Squirmin’ Sherman doesn’t take as a sign of calamity. I’m afraid I have to lay some good news on him.
Yes, casino revenues are disappointing this year, tracking flat with 2012. However, the Strip continues to reinvent itself around other revenue sources. The baby-sized Treasure Island mall is proceeding apace, as is The Linq. “A property really can’t compete for the upscale visitor if it doesn’t have shopping. High-end retail is really what’s propelling the growth in taxable sales in Las Vegas,” reports UNLV Center for Business & Economic Development Director Steven Brown. He adds that shoppers aren’t migratory. If they’re staying at Encore, say, they’re not going to schlep down to Crystals to satisfy their retail jones. So it behooves casino owners to have shopping close at hand.
What’s more, the Vegas model is spreading across Brazil like wildfire, driven by mogul Luciano Hang, who is promoting “the freedom to shop.” Admittedly, Hang might do well to take another lesson from Las Vegas (and elsewhere), namely the dangers of a consumption-driven, high-debt economy … but that seems to be a Brazilian epidemic these days. That being said, if Hang’s stores inspire more of his countrymen to visit Vegas, bully for him.
Although the domestic casino industry is going through a period of doldrums, it’s not 
discernibly affecting the Global Gaming Expo. Both in terms of exhibitors and attendees, it’s tracking well ahead of last year. And MGM Resorts International is doing such strong business that it’s putting Morgans Hotel Group on “hold,” vis-a-vis the reinvention of THEhotel into a Delano-branded property. Conventioneers are also warming up to Aria, another sure sign of progress. I’d dissent with Howard Stutz on one thing: “Morgans has been itching to put the Delano brand in Las Vegas.” Morgans lollygagged on its commitment to build a Delano in Echelon and effectively doomed the latter by blowing its M&A money to get the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino instead. And we all know how well that turned out.
In a surrealistic twist, Vegas is also welcoming poker players who are under indictment for allegedly being in cahoots with the Russian Mafia. Even a convicted player has been given this latitude. Why are these demimonde denizens being permitted so much freedom of movement? Some clever lawyering is credited with making it happen. The poker pros make their living from gambling, so if Vegas is beckoning, the courts have good reason to let them go. This isn’t the strangest Vegas-related story I’ve ever read, but it’s right up there?
Who won? I confess I am so indifferent to last weekend’s Floyd Mayweather/“Tomato Canelo” Anthony card that I still am unaware of the outcome. Whoever lost, our local economy will be the winner. Chew on that, Sherm.
I would stop picking on Sherman. Things have changed and Las Vegas has Competition. It mat not be as big and Gaudy but almost every state has Casinos. How many times can u go shopping and eat at very expensive restaurants and be ripped off if u gamble?. U can do it locally. There will always be a Las Vegas but I think it has peaked. u keep on picking on Sheldon but he gets most of his income from Macau. Have u ever run a business? U talk big but i bet u never ran a business.