Monday, May 18, 1998 | 10:10 a.m.
PRIMM -- Builders of a new mall hope to have created "the Forum Shops of the outlet industry" when they unveil Fashion Outlet of Las Vegas in mid-July.
The developers of the $75 million, 104-store collection of factory outlets attached to the Primm Valley hotel-casino make no apologies for mentioning the highly successful Forum Shops at Caesars as a standard for success. After all, they developed that property as well.
Gordon Group Holdings Ltd. and TrizecHahn Centers are building and leasing space in the mall at the three-resort cluster that hugs the California state line about 36 miles south of Las Vegas Strip.
"In the Fashion Outlet of Las Vegas, we see an opportunity to redesign the outlet industry," said Hanna Struever, vice president of leasing for Gordon Group Holdings, Santa Monica, Calif.
When the mall opens July 16, it will be another magnet to draw people to Primm from their Las Vegas vacations or while en route to the city on Interstate 15, which carries an estimated 10.6 million cars a year.
In addition to the three properties operated by Primadonna Resorts Inc. -- Primm Valley, Whiskey Pete's and Buffalo Bill's -- the tiny community is home to two 18-hole golf courses, an arena that hosts concerts and sporting events and the highest roller coaster in North America, the Desperado.
The three resort properties, each with their own casinos, house a total of 2,770 hotel rooms -- about the capacity of the Imperial Palace on the Strip. The casinos take up 113,500 square feet and feature 4,547 slot machines, 106 table games and three race and sports books.
The Primm Valley Golf Club, about 3 miles south of Primm in California and designed by award-winning architect Tom Fazio, features two courses that rise out of a dry lake bed on the west side of I-15. Play began on the 6,945-yard Lakes Course last year while the new 7,060-yard Desert Course opened last week.
Roller coaster aficionados have embraced the Desperado as one of the best in the world, but there are other thrill rides at the resort. The Turbo Drop is a sort of reverse-bungee-cord ride while the Adventure Canyon Flume Ride has been transformed into a moving shooting gallery attraction. There also are two motion-simulator theater rides.
The Star of the Desert Arena at Buffalo Bill's seats 6,500 and has featured Bob Dylan, the Moody Blues and B.B. King. Reba McIntyre is on tap to play there this summer. Other entertainment venues include a movie theater, a comedy club and two showrooms.
Jennifer Lewis, a spokeswoman for Primadonna Resorts, said the company has completed several improvements in preparation for the opening of the new mall. In the past year, Primm Valley has been in transition from Primadonna, the former name of the property.
A new covered parking garage is attached to the hotel, which has a new arcade, gift shop and piano bar. The coffee shop has been renamed the Gallery Cafe and has been remodeled. The company also is in the process of turning the hotel's fourth-floor rooms into suites and a bowling alley at the property is being relocated to Buffalo Bill's.
Buffalo Bill's has signed on six new restaurants and specialty shops in the development of a food court at the Old Ghost Town area. Frisella's Rotisserie, Panda Express, McDonald's and Popeye's Chicken will make up the food court while Houdini's Magic Shop and Rocky Mountain Chocolates will be new retailers there.
The entire complex is connected with a new monorail system, making it easy for guests to cross I-15 and get from property to property.
And now, shopping.
The Fashion Outlet is actually a two-phase project with the first a 400,000-square-foot single-level facility with two themed courts and a collection of more than 100 stores and restaurants. Part of the mall will have a New York Times Square urban look while another section will have a Palm Beach resort feel. Stores will be accented by dramatic lighting and paving and a large fountain.
Among the stores, ranging from 1,000 to 25,000 square feet, that have committed to the mall: Last Call from Neiman Marcus the Clearance Center, Williams-Sonoma, St. John Knits, BCBG, Jhane Barnes, Lacoste, Timberland and Guess.
El Portal is putting in its first outlet store, while BCBG is offering its first shoe store as part of its display. Only the second Versace outlet store in the country is planned there while Quiksilver, a California surf and skiwear store, will open its doors in the mall.
Bertolini's Authentic Trattoria is the top name among 10 restaurants that will form a food court.
Streuver said 92 percent of the space has been leased and her company has advertised nationally to get the remaining storefronts filled.
The mall is designed in a "racetrack" format, an oval that will allow shoppers to peruse every storefront in a pattern that will return them to their starting point.
The exterior of the mall will certainly be noticeable from passing cars, thanks to a fashion billboard program that is expected to generate more than $2 million in revenue a year.
TrizecHahn has turned over the billboard management to New York City-based Van Wagner Outdoor which will produce signs 10 times larger than standard highway billboards along the mall's west-facing facade. Van Wagner is responsible for much of the signage in Times Square, controlling 43 of 55 existing billboards there and marketing them to such advertisers as Minolta, Olympus, JVC, Konica and Pepsi Cola.
The parking lot will have room for more than 2,000 vehicles. The road circling the mall comes within 3 feet of the California border.
Struever said the second phase of development would be dependent upon the success of Phase I. However, the 225,000-square-foot addition, to be attached at the food court outlet, probably would be built in 1999, she said.
So why are the big names of fashion building stores in the middle of nowhere?
Struever explained that because outlet stores handle an inventory of discounted products that still carry brand names, they don't want them competing with the tony stores most of them have in Las Vegas. Outlet merchandise is priced 40 to 75 percent below the original label.
Still, the demographic profile of the average Las Vegas visitor is attractive to the operators of outlet stores. The developers' research indicates the average visitor and the average local household income in Las Vegas to be more than $54,000 compared to a national average of about $35,000. Shopping is one of the leading leisure activities pursued by the 33 million tourists who visit Las Vegas and many of the 3.4 million conventioneers who come to Southern Nevada shop in their non-business hours.
Last Call, the Neiman Marcus store, will be the fourth of its kind in the United States and the first located in the West.
"By opening a new Last Call clearance center in the Fashion Outlet of Las Vegas, we will increase our ability to offer marked-down merchandise in an outlet center that is consistent with the Neiman Marcus image," said Jim Gold, vice president of clearance centers for the Dallas-based company.
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