Economic forecasting is a forbiddingly tricky science but you still have to wonder what convinced MGM Mirage that there was either A) an unabated market for ultra-high-end retail in Las Vegas or B) that such demand as already existed could be siphoned away from the (considerable) competition elsewhere.
This thought is prompted by a Thursday-night visit to Crystals. Had it not been for the media event at Tiffany & Co. (at which I accidentally baptized myself with half a martini), attendance in the mall would have fallen over 50%. Most of those strolling through were middle-class sightseers, just there to look, and the big draw was clearly the marvelous set of water cyclones at the center of the mall.
Consumption was conspicuous by its absence. The score at Roberto Cavalli was Salespeople: 4, Customers: 0. Maybe all it takes is a relatively few platinum card-bearing sybarites to make this place pencil out for MGM Mirage but for now it’s a tomb … or at least an expensive miscalculation.
The big goodie-bag offering at the event was a pair of Tiffany-branded decks of playing cards. A surprise musical guest was promised, too. As soon as I heard the limp-noodle Sinatra covers, I knew it could be … it might be … it had to be … yes, it was Matt Goss, clad in black tie and omnipresent porkpie hat. For better or worse, he was 10 times as audible at Tiffany that he was in the “Gossy Room” at The Palms. Maybe he should play in-store engagements only.
Business couldn’t have been better one monorail stop away at Bellagio. It wasn’t even Friday and the joint was already jumping. Its preeminence is unlikely to be usurped anytime soon, especially when one considers Bellagio’s centrality, its still-mesmerizing fountains and — perhaps most of all — the fact that it extends two welcoming wings toward the Strip in what was intended as an open embrace. By contrast, Aria (below) conceals itself behind a thicket of high rises. For those gamblers who like to “graze” from casino to casino along the Strip, making the hike uphill to Aria, sans people-mover, is going to require a considerable modification of behavior.
Thanks to the Better Half’s comp-obtaining Jedi skills, we were able to dine at Fix. The cocktails are extra-tasty there, which makes up somewhat for the conversation-discouraging din. Wood walls, floor and ceiling may possess excellent reverberant properties but in Fix’s case they also mean you can’t hear what your server is saying and vice versa. An injudicious selection of menu items resulted in yours truly becoming violently ill, so today’s edition of S&G finds Yr. Humble Blogger intact but feeling slightly worse for the wear.
This just in … Here’s the current pecking order amongst MGM’s Strip properties, as ranked in a promotional e-mail that only now tumbled through the cyber-transom: Aria ($127+) ties with Bellagio ($127+), followed by Vdara, THEhotel and Signature (all $110+), then Mandalay Bay ($80+), The Mirage ($77+) and then way down to the Green Monster, MGM Grand ($58+). The lower echelons are inhabited by New York-New York ($51+), Monte Carlo ($45+), Luxor ($40+) and — watch your step — Excalibur ($28+). The bottom rung is reserved for Circus Circus ($24+), though prices there are probably a victim of the clown house’s increasingly dilapidated neighborhood.
The Crystals Shopping Center was planned back in 2006/2007 when the economy was doing a lot better. Some of the high end shopping places that Las Vegas has to offer (and also throughout the rest of the United States) are not doing as well as before because of the aforementioned economy. There was probably to many of these high end places to start with anyway and now they are overbuilt and consequently some of these companies will eventually find themselves in the trick bag.
One way or another I have to think that part of Crystals will eventually become a casino or some sort of portal to funnel people into Aria. There are an awful lot of tourists waundering around the place who would never dream of buying anything at the ultra overpriced retailers. It will take a few years, but once the novelty of the cyclones wears off some executive will have to think of a way to get people to spend some money and expend the effort to go to Crystals. The other high-end retail places in Las Vegas, like at the Forum Shops or Bellagio, ultimately lead to a slot machine.
am i wrong or does carl ichan make mgm look like a bunch of buffoons.if they cant sell some properties they will have to go thru some form of bk.
Actually Hunter, Chuckmoster and I had this conversation at the opening of Aria. And I stated, I believe Bellagio will do more business than Aria for the foreseeable future. I still stand by that. I just think Aria is too hard to access, and had too little to offer, when compared to Bellagio. I was stunned by a few things at CC. Its just amazing that you have to go outside to get from Aria to Crystals. What were they thinking? And the “People Mover” is almost worthless, unless you want to move from Bellagio to MC. If you are in Aria and want to visit MC or Bellagio, the people mover is about the worst possible option. For City Center being a Urban Environment, it sure is somewhat difficult to navigate around.
I don’t think so, John. MGM has lots of properties that make good money, they can wait for CityCenter to come around. They may delay maintenance and improvements, but it will work out. Ichan bought cheap, but it will still take at least a bil to start making any revenue. And the blue monolith amy be too big to ever be successful, IMO.
the tower at fontainblue is 80% complete.retail and gaming will not take 1 bil to complete.ichan will get big concessions from the unions and the contractors that already have a large portion of the millwork etc made and sitting in storage.
mgm make money but are awash in debt.its going to be very interesting to see the next quaters earnings.if there is a double dip in this recovery then we just might see them cry uncle
Spent MLK weekend at Aria and walked through Crytsals. Even when the mall is filled, which should be in a few more months, there will be a lot of wasted space. There are literally corridors that become dead ends. As for the shopping, it is completely ridiculous. I like-high end as much as the next person. Indeed, I bought a pair of sunglasses at Bellagio’s Dior boutique. But the shops at Crystals are just wrong. A polo shirt at Tom Ford = $490. A beach towel at Hermes = $530. So many sales people just standing around doing nothing.