Thursday, Oct. 31, 2002 | 11:34 a.m.
The Las Vegas Strip hasn't seen a megaresort opening since the Aladdin launched in August 2000 -- a veritable resort-corridor drought for a street accustomed to internationally renowned hotel-casino openings.
However, the Rouse Co. has delivered a worthy alternative with a weeklong flurry of high-profile charity and fashion events leading up to the Friday opening of part of the expansion of its Fashion Show mall on the Strip.
The expansion's first phase, which opens to the public at 10 a.m. Friday, comprises the bulk of the Fashion Show's $1 billion, 1 million-square-foot expansion.
The mall eventually will be linked by a pedestrian bridge to the Le Reve casino-resort across the Strip. Steve Wynn and dignitaries will break ground on Le Reve today, adding to the excitement of Friday's Fashion Show opening. Also on the drawing board in the Fashion Show-Le Reve district of Las Vegas are new casino resorts and luxury condominiums proposed by gaming entrepreneurs Sheldon Adelson, Phil Ruffin and Donald Trump.
The first phase of the Fashion Show expansion will add nearly 900,000 feet of retail to the 869,000-square-foot shopping center, positioning it to easily surpass Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc.'s 1.2 million-square-foot Boulevard Mall as the state's largest enclosed shopping center.
An additional 117,000 square feet of retail space will come online at the Fashion Show in about a year, when the expansion concludes.
At that time, the Fashion Show will be the only regional shopping center in the country with eight anchors under one roof. It will also be one of the nation's biggest shopping centers, comparing favorably to titanic shopping centers such as Simon Property Group's Mall of America, a 2.5-million-square-foot shopping center in Bloomington, Minn.
In addition, it will have created 6,000 new retail jobs in the Las Vegas Valley.
"This is probably one of the most significant openings in the (Rouse Co.'s) history," said Rita Brandin, a senior vice president and development director for the Maryland-based Rouse, which is also developing the Summerlin master-planned community in northwest Las Vegas.
A confluence of events -- a lingering national economic malaise and pending expansions in two other major Strip shopping centers, among others -- could present challenges to any mall opening, but George Connor, a retail analyst with real estate brokerage Colliers International, said the Fashion Show should thrive.
"Their biggest challenge is going to be handling the crowds," Connor said. "I suspect we'll see crowds similar to the opening of a casino. I think they'll have phenomenal crowds. This is the big project for the year (in Las Vegas)."
Among the new store spaces are a 200,000-square-foot Nordstrom department store -- the state's first -- and a 100,000-square-foot Bloomingdale's Home store, a new concept the Connecticut-based retailer is debuting nationally in the Las Vegas market.
Also, existing Fashion Show anchor Saks Fifth Avenue has new digs -- a 170,000-square-foot building on the shopping center's south side. When it opens Friday, it will rank as the biggest Saks in the country outside New York.
Per customer demand, Saks has added a home department to its Fashion Show store. The revamped Saks also includes a children's department, a concierge, a personal-shopper service, sitting areas around cash registers and dressing rooms the size of small bedrooms.
The company is also unveiling a new concept in the market -- "living rooms." The secluded areas throughout the store feature couches, TVs, cable service and video games for those who are accompanying shoppers and want to rest their feet.
Dillard's, also an existing anchor at the Fashion Show, is taking over a new 200,000-square-foot building on the center's west side.
Neiman Marcus, Macy's and Robinsons-May have also expanded their existing stores at the shopping center, in some cases doubling their space.
That's all in addition to 173,000 square feet of smaller store space that will contain 80 retailers. The smaller retailers include Abercrombie & Fitch, Betsey Johnson, j. jill, Tommy Bahama, Coach, Swarovski, Cole Haan, Louis Vuitton and Apple Computer.
As well as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's Home, some smaller retailers such as Island Pearl, a jewelry company affiliated with Maui Divers Jewelry of Hawaii, are opening their first stores in Southern Nevada. The Apple store will also be the computer giant's first in Las Vegas.
"We've got some new marquee players in the market," said Connor of the new elements the Fashion Show brings to Strip retail. "You've got Nordstrom with its almost cult-like following, and the Bloomingdale's Home store is unique. It should be very exciting for anyone coming to Las Vegas who's interested in shopping."
Brandin said the shopping center's diverse roster of tenants will appeal to locals and tourists alike.
"The improved Fashion Show brings an incredible lineup of the broadest collection of retail in the country," Brandin said. "For the local market, it's very meaningful. If you're a Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom customer, there is no other place to shop in the market. The Saks store is a huge testimony to Saks' belief in the market, and Neiman Marcus' merchandise lineup and selection are comparable to their home store in Dallas. These are all flagship stores for these anchors.
"For the visitor market, we have all this great shopping under one roof. It's all retail, all the time. It's a great entertainment experience, and that's part of of the overall trip experience in Las Vegas. People come here to shop, go to shows, eat and gamble."
Statistics from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority bear out Brandin's contention that shopping and dining rival gambling as the most popular activities among the 36 million tourists who come to Las Vegas each year.
The authority released data in 1999 showing that shopping and dining had displaced gambling as the No. 1 and No. 2 revenue generators in the market.
Creating an entertainment experience to accompany a shopping junket is a critical strategy in Rouse's marketing of the Fashion Show. The upgraded shopping center has a central Great Hall with a $14 million adjustable runway and stage for holding fashion shows and introducing products.
In February Rouse will install the "Cloud," a 400-foot-long canopy above a 72,000-square-foot plaza along the Strip. The canopy will consist of giant panels for the visual display of fashion shows and product debuts from around the world.
Rouse has also lined up entertainment at the Fashion Show for the upcoming Holiday season.
Santa Claus will "fly" into the center's west expansion three times a day, accompanied by manufactured snow.
And the weeks following the opening will bring visits by notables such as English designer Alexander McQueen, who will stage a fashion show in conjunction with Neiman Marcus at 7:30 on the mall's opening evening.
Also, chef Emeril Lagasse will sign cookbooks at Bloomingdale's Home on Friday, Tatiana Faberge will make an appearance in Neiman Marcus' home-decor department on Saturday and BCBG designer Max Azria will be at Nordstrom on Nov. 7.
Others scheduled to appear at the property in November and December include designer Jhane Barnes, jewelry designers Michael Dawkins and Leslie Green and chefs Chris Gray, Clay Conley, Cindy Hutson and Nick Blamonte.
Fashion and trunk shows will abound as well: Badgley Mischka, Tod's, Perry Ellis, Bruno Magli, Tommy Bahama, Santoni and Konstantino are among the retailers planning to show their wares in events at the Fashion Show in the next two months.
"The test for us is the sustained interest in the opening through the holidays," Brandin said "The holiday (season) is big for us. We've implemented entertainment to convert visits to sales. We'll continue to drive traffic into the center to experience the retail."
Brandin said the Fashion Show will be among the top five most important shopping centers for Rouse, which has 51 regional retail centers around the nation.
Pre-expansion, the Fashion Show recorded almost $600 per square foot per year in sales, compared to about $1,300 per square foot at the Forum Shops at Caesars and about $800 per square foot at The Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes.
Brandin predicted "conservatively " that the Fashion Show will do $800 to $1,000 in sales per square foot in 2006, the year it projects the center will stabilize following the expansion.
"Around $800 per square foot should be achievable, given the new format with the department stores and the extended hours (until 9 p.m.)," Connor said. "They should have a lot more traffic in the evening, and with the synergy of the (store) lineup, entertainment and different events, they should see a huge increase in the amount of traffic day and night."
The second phase of the expansion, for which construction work is already under way, is scheduled to open in October 2003.
The phase will add 117,000 square feet of small-store space and 50 retailers along the Strip, including a concentration of luxury shops around Neiman Marcus.
Also, Lord & Taylor will renovate and take over the building Dillard's vacated at the northeast corner of the center.
Structural work is taking place in the plaza under the display cloud, and remodeling work on existing store space will begin in December. Also on the drawing boards are an 11,000-square-foot food court and a 10,000-square-foot banquet hall that can seat up to 400.
Rouse is making its $1 billion investment in the Fashion Show just as the Forum Shops at Caesars begins its 200,000-square-foot expansion and the Grand Canal Shoppes prepares to add 250,000 square feet.
Analysts are divided on whether the Strip is over-retailed, though industry watchers have said in recent months the added retail on Las Vegas Boulevard can do well if the valley's employment base and population continue to grow, and if the city can expand its tourism volume beyond the 36 million visitors who come to Las Vegas each year.
Anthony Deering, chief executive of Rouse, said he expects big growth in the local and tourist segments.
"We're excited about the Fashion Show, because before you can blink an eye, Las Vegas will have 2 million residents and 50 to 60 million visitors a year," Deering told about 300 members of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce at a breakfast held Thursday morning in the shopping center's Great Hall. "The Fashion Show will reinvent the American shopping experience, and it will certainly become one of America's top shopping centers by any measure."
Connor said the Fashion Show won't glut the market because "it's a little different in slant."
"When you look at Desert Passage, the Grand Canal Shoppes and the Forum Shops, they have animated or staged entertainment that goes off on a regular basis. It's interesting, but once you've seen the statues move around a couple times, it's kind of the same thing over and over again. The Fashion Show will have different events and live fashion shows all the time. They'll be very engaging, and more interactive types of shows than what you see at specialty centers."
Connor added that the number of department stores will keep consumers at the Fashion Show longer than the average hour they spend at most malls, as they spend time visiting several of the big stores.
"They're right on target," he said. "It's a different type of shopping experience. I think it will be hugely successful, but not to the detriment of the ones that exist. Existing shopping centers (on the Strip) will continue to do well, but with the Fashion Show, we're going to find a whole new level of retail on the Strip."
Brandin said retail developers on the Strip can all find success with their expanded centers if they provide new shopping experiences.
"There's enough to go around on the Strip with regards to sales activity, but it's important we don't begin to over-duplicate. We can't have the same merchandise in all the centers. There is a sufficient number of merchants out there for all of us to have good leasing lineups."
archive
