Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mandalay’s offerings light on retail, so far

The new Mandalay Bay hotel-casino is packed with "something for every runaway," in the words of Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. President Glenn Schaeffer.

Unless that runaway is a big fan of shopping.

There are 13 shops scattered here and there throughout the massive Mandalay Bay complex.

But at least five of those shops feature primarily Mandalay Bay and Las Vegas souvenirs and memorabilia. One souvenir shop is also a juice bar. There's a news stand, a flower shop, a cigar store and a souvenir shop for the musical "Chicago."

High-end shoppers have only two clothiers to choose from -- Cuzzins for men and Portfolio for women. El Portal Collection sells men's and women's accessories. And Bali Trading Company trades in hand-carved South Seas-style art objects.

That's not much for the "runaway" who likes spending lots of time in a mall. To service that type of visitor, Circus is planning a 1 million-square-foot mall between Mandalay Bay and the Luxor hotel-casino, which it also owns.

"We will have a sizable retail concourse and entertainment complex that connects Mandalay Bay to Luxor," Schaeffer said at a news conference Monday.

In a later interview, Schaeffer noted that shopping is a key component of the overall Las Vegas experience for many visitors.

Indeed, spurred largely by the success of the Forum Shops at Caesars and the Fashion Show mall, several resorts have opened shopping malls or are including high-end retail in their plans. These include the Bellagio, Venetian, Paris and Aladdin hotel-casinos.

The Mandalay Bay-Luxor location, at the south end of the Strip near the first two Strip exit ramps from Interstate 15, gives the planned mall an advantage over its competition, Schaeffer said.

"We have an opportunity, because of our location, to serve as a regional mall," Schaeffer said.

Analysts acknowledge a large mall's ability to help Circus Circus draw visitors to the locationally challenged end of the Strip, but they don't want Las Vegas to find itself with more high-end retail than it can handle.

"The eventual development of that 1 million-square-foot mall would be helpful," Brian Egger, an analyst with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, said.

The Bellagio shops are defying expectations, a factor which demonstrates strong demand for retail. And the south end of the Strip is "under-retailed," Egger said.

Andrew Zarnett, an analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., says the new mall might help Circus draw people to the south end of the Strip, but doubts it will have as great an impact as might be expected.

"There's a lot of retail in town today," Zarnett said. "I really don't think anybody comes to Las Vegas to go shopping. I think people come to Las Vegas and end up going shopping."

But Jason Ader, analyst for Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., believes Circus needs the planned mall to keep customers coming to the bottom of the Strip.

"They're going to need to bring people down there," Ader said.

Shopping is key to completing the full-service Vegas experience, Ader said.

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