All This and Shopping

There’s a new sound in Las Vegas, one that’s getting louder and stronger than the cling-clangs and the boop-boops of slot machines: the ka-ching ka-ching of cash registers.

They’re ringing at Gucci, Armani, Hugo Boss, Neiman Marcus and Donna Karan, words once as foreign to Vegas as “good taste.” That’s because Las Vegas isn’t just a mecca for gamblers--it’s also becoming a shopper’s paradise.

Upscale retail is the newest wave to hit this town, which, for the dimly aware, has been experiencing a metamorphosis in recent years. Once known only as a haven for fans of gaming and overwrought nightclub shows, massive expansion on and near the strip and increased convention business has given Las Vegas a new reputation. Now it’s sold as a family-friendly, restaurant-savvy town with themed hotel mega-plexes. It also boasts two high-end shopping malls on the strip, and there’s much more to come.

But don’t expect to find those malls filled with the glitz and glitter that made Vegas Vegas. Mannequins are draped with expertly cut Versace suits and romantic Escada dresses, not tacky rhinestone-studded jackets and feather-trimmed gowns. Window displays would not look out of place on Rodeo Drive or Fifth Avenue.

It was an evolution waiting to happen, say those who have been keeping a watchful eye on the city.

“What we noticed about Las Vegas,” says one mall developer, “was the enormous amount of tourist traffic. The volume being done by the gift stores [in the hotels] was outstanding. But basically, retail-wise, Vegas had frozen. There was never a good place to go to shop.”

Not anymore.

The Fashion Show mall, built in 1981 and upgraded in 1993, was the strip’s first retail showcase. Nestled between Treasure Island and the Frontier hotel, its stores include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nicole Miller, Bally, Talbots, Williams-Sonoma and Jessica McClintock.

In 1992, serious competition came along in the form of the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.

An enclosed 526,000-square-foot arcade, it boasts a mix of high- and mid-range stores, including Polo Ralph Lauren, Shauna Stein, Niketown, Virgin Megastore, Emporio Armani, Banana Republic, Fendi and Fred Joallier. Space goes for about $250 to $300 a square foot, topping Rodeo Drive at $192 a square foot. It boasts a daily average traffic count of 45,000 to 50,000.

But buying and eating aren’t the only attractions here; some come just to see the interpretation of an ancient Roman street scene--presuming they had malls back then. Peaceful curved ceilings depict a trompe l’oeil scene of billowy clouds on a blue sky that change throughout the day, approximating sunrises and sunsets.

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Among the attractions is the hourly show “Atlantis” in the Roman Great Hall, which combines animatronics and special effects such as a laser light show, fire and steam. For something more calming, shoppers can gaze at a 50,000-gallon saltwater aquarium stocked with tropical fish.

Phases 3 and 4, to be completed in 2000, promise even more shoppingtainment.

It’s that intense mix of shopping and spectacular visual effects that’s setting Vegas apart from the average American mall.

“The idea of an invented street is a very powerful one for retailers,” says David Sloane, associate professor in the school of urban planning and development at USC. “Horton Plaza [in San Diego] is in some sense a village with a set of streets going around. CityWalk [in Universal City] really tries to bring you in. In Beverly Hills, you have Rodeo Drive, then Two Rodeo, which is an invented open arcade.”

Sloane’s latest Vegas vacation in February included a stop in at the Forum Shops, where, he says, “I was surprised by how total an environment it was. By the time I left I was disoriented; I didn’t know where I was vis-a-vis the street or casino. I felt enveloped by the space.

“My sense is that [the designers] are trying to create a separate environment,” he adds. “They want your consciousness to be completely in that environment. In fact, it’s a very simple box. When I went back the second time, I was able to get my bearings. But the same kinds of issues that apply to shopping apply to gambling. They don’t want people to look at a clock and say, ‘God, I’ve been here for three hours.’ The longer you can keep people there, the better.”

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Forum Shops developers should be basking in a warm, fuzzy glow.

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That’s because new strip hotels currently under construction promise their own themed shopping plazas, complete with upscale stores, restaurants, attractions and entertainment. That makes sense, since Vegas’ basic nature can be summed up this way: If big is good, outrageously enormous is better.

Where once there was skepticism in bringing upscale retail to Las Vegas, now there is confidence in a booming economy and a growing city. Its 1.2 million population is growing by some 72,000 people a year.

“In the ‘70s and ‘80s no one would ever suggest building an upscale mall in Las Vegas,” says Robert Goldstein, senior vice president of Las Vegas Sands Inc., which is developing the Venetian. “But who would have thought fine dining would be flocking to Las Vegas? The answer is that the city is diversifying way beyond gaming.”

It seems retailers, after tracking Vegas’ physical and economic growth, can’t sign those mall leases fast enough.

While some hotel boutiques still cater to those in need of a sequins and rhinestone fix, shoppers seeking high fashion won’t be disappointed.

In fact, John Idol, CEO of New York-based Donna Karan, chose Las Vegas to launch the sophisticated line’s first free-standing store.

“Donna and I were looking at some of the best locations in the U.S., and we felt that Las Vegas was definitely one of the top 10 locations where you want to have a retail store. It’s obviously a growing city, and along with rapid change sometimes come terrific retail opportunities. There are people who live and work there, and then there’s a very large tourist population that’s from the U.S. South America, Japan, Europe. And people on vacation enjoy spending money.”

The city’s constant stream of tourists was a major lure for Tiffany’s, slated to move into Bellagio.

“The thing that makes it unique is that the main industry is gambling, which separates it from every place in the world except Monte Carlo,” says Wallace Steiner, Tiffany’s vice president of the southwest region. “It’s just a very exciting market.”

Exciting enough, he adds, to extend store hours to midnight and be open 365 days a year.

As these new giant hotel complexes claim their place on the strip, they’re working overtime to ensure they’re set apart from the competition--paying attention to the most minute design detail, luring unique stores and making sure shoppers never get bored.

“What we tend to do in Las Vegas is, once we find a new hook, we play it to death, with retail, entertainment, everything,” says Paul V. Pusateri, executive vice president of Paris Las Vegas.

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The hook here is the re-creation of this legendary city, minus the language barrier and snooty attitude. At the shopping arcade, Pusateri claims, “you’ll get the feeling of walking down a Parisian street, and the retail areas will have a very distinct window treatment and will attract you for different reasons than an American store. If you look at the typical mall experience, this is very different.”

But not everyone believes Las Vegas is living up to its hype. Bud Konheim, CEO of New York-based Nicole Miller, calls the city “a very tricky retail environment. Everybody who goes there has some kind of money to travel with, and gamblers are not traditionally interested in shopping. [The tourists] come from the Midwest, Florida, Japan, Russia, China, but a lot of tourists are into T-shirts and ice cream; they’re not necessarily fashion shopping, and that can take a big slice of the pie down to a sliver. The body count is meaningless. You’re much better off with a targeted demographic.”

Nicole Miller has two Vegas locations: the Fashion Show mall and inside the Rio hotel. The stores carry her trademark pictorial silks made into shirts, boxer shorts, scarves and ties, which all tend to sell well. Her women’s clothes include sexy, body-conscious dresses, sportswear and evening wear and can command four figures.

Yet, despite its off-the-charts showiness, Konheim contends that Las Vegas isn’t a dressy town. The strip is still filled with tourists on vacation.

“Look around you,” he says. “The scene is not that elegant.”

He concedes that the Forum Shops’ success may be due to the mall’s “older, well-established crowd” and good mix of stores, but adds that rents are high enough to be prohibitive to many retailers.

Still, it’s doing well enough to warrant another expansion, due to be completed by 2000.

“Look at New York New York and now the Bellagio going up,” says Deborah Simon, senior vice president of Indianapolis-based developers Simon DeBartolo Group Inc. (which developed the mall with L.A.’s Gordon Group Holdings Inc.). “Everything has to be better than the last time. Las Vegas is a show town, and I think we had to do something even more spectacular for Phases 3 and 4.”

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But can a city--even one as entertainment-driven as Las Vegas--support five major shopping areas in the space of a few square blocks? Is competition--even at this intense level--actually good for business?

“I think so,” says Andrew Hagopian, director of retail for the Bellagio. “I think the amount of growth out here--there seems to be no end in sight. I think it’s a healthy situation. Las Vegas is vibrant, alive, and that helps when you have so many people moving here and visiting. The overall quality of the product has gotten better. It’s a whole new standard.”

Adds Goldstein of the Ventian: “There will always be duplication, but the devil is in the details. There is absolutely the threat of saturation, but when that does happen, you’d better be in the best shopping center with the most traffic. L.A. has the same stores in malls there, so why should I go to Pasadena if I’m in Santa Monica? We’re not immune to that, but the good thing about Las Vegas is that there’s room for the Grand Canal shops and the Forum Shops and others if they’re extremely well designed and bring in good tenants.”

Sloane of USC points out that “Las Vegas is quite good at taking the same product and selling it over and over again. New York New York is fantastic, but it has the same slot machines as Luxor. What they’ve done in the last 10 years is re-create the city as a business-family-entertainment center, and the question is whether that can sustain that many high-level shops.” But, he adds, Vegas is now the model other retailers and developers are using to plan malls of the future.

“They’re seeing things there and wondering if it will work in their towns. It’s going to reinforce the desirability of themed retail environments. When CityWalk opened, people from all over the world came to see it. I think Las Vegas has that same kind of magic right now.”