SLS helping keep north Strip from going south, nearby business operators say

Tom Donoghue / DonoghuePhotography.com

The grand opening of SLS Las Vegas on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014, on the Strip.

Since late 2008, when work on the Fontainebleau stopped, the building's shell has loomed over the north end of the Strip, a shiny, cornflower-blue reminder that the boom years never made it to that section of the tourist corridor.

Now, there is a new signpost for the area, a giant Carolina-blue guitar at the corner of a vast dirt lot advertising what will be the Rock in Rio festival grounds.

Unlike CityCenter and Cosmopolitan, which injected new life into the center of the Strip, the Fontainebleau fizzled out before completion and, when the Sahara closed in 2011, three of the four corners of the Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard intersection sat vacant.

The opening of the SLS in August has brought optimism to the area that was overlooked for years. In addition to Rock in Rio, a commercial development with a Walgreens is under construction on the northeast corner. A little farther south, preparations are underway to turn the once dormant Echelon site into Genting’s Resorts World Las Vegas.

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The grand opening of SLS Las Vegas on Friday, Aug. 22, 2014, on the Strip. Launch slideshow »

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The area is trending in the right direction, but will the local businesses that weathered the down years really benefit from new casinos and tourist-focused venues?

Interviews with a dozen managers and business owners indicate that the buzz around the north end is more than welcome, but most of the local stores are not expecting a huge surge in customers. However, there is a lot of positive buzz around the neighborhood stretching from the Stratosphere north to Charleston Boulevard, including the arts district.

The one corner of Sahara Avenue and the Strip that has been occupied all this time belongs to Bonanza Gift Shop, which bills itself as the “World’s Largest Gift Shop” and opened in 1981.

“The SLS is a great shot in the arm for the area,” Bonanza manager Angie Hurt said. “It’s a great thing to have all this activity, with retail going in across the street and the concert venue on the other corner. This is all very positive, and we are really optimistic.”

Click to enlarge photo

An exterior view of the Bonanza Gift & Souvenir Shops on the northwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard South and Sahara Avenue Monday, July 15, 2013.

The SLS has brought increased foot traffic to the intersection, but so far the results are mixed as far as small, local shops and eateries are concerned.

At a souvenir shop, tattoo parlor and convenience store on the block of Las Vegas Boulevard between the Stratosphere and SLS, staffers at all three stores said they have yet to see any boost in business from the new casino.

“Everybody still walks south from SLS toward the heart of the Strip,” said Jonathan Sage, a convenience store clerk.

At the Capriotti’s sandwich shop on Sahara Avenue, a short walk from the SLS, manager Jackie Moslof was helping her staff make sandwiches during a busy Monday lunch time.

“Business has definitely increased since the SLS opened,” she said. “It isn’t a large amount, but we are certainly hopeful that the trend will continue with everything coming in around us.”

Benefits to the area do not stop with trickle-down dollars from tourists. The White Cross Market has been getting a steady flow of customers from the SLS.

“We have become an oasis for tourists seeking out water and directions on their way to the 'Pawn Stars' shop,” said Corey White, an employee at White Cross. “A lot of the people who work at the SLS have been coming in here for things, and it has helped us in that regard.”

John Restrepo, principal with RCG Economics in Las Vegas, said casinos typically have little spillover effect on surrounding local businesses.

“Unless they are in a particularly pedestrian-friendly location, casinos will have a limited impact on adjacent, smaller neighborhood stores,” he said. “Maybe the gas stations will see increased business, but it’s not a great amount of activity.”

When a new resort does open in Las Vegas, the biggest impact on local businesses is on area vendors who can get a supply contract with the new property, Restrepo said.

The activity at the north end of the Strip is a welcome sight, Restrepo added, drawing attention away from the mothballed Fontainebleau and giving the area a much-needed boost after the center and south of the Strip dominated the attention of tourists during the past decade.

Real estate values for the area are likely to rise as the new developments come in, and that can be good for both local- and tourist-focused growth.

While some local business owners said they did not expect to see a lot of tourists coming to their stores, they did say the neighborhood is getting better. More residents and businesses are coming, and the increased activity at the northern limits of the Strip is beneficial.

Some see the area as one poised for progress, an urban residential area with restaurants, bars and shops that caters to locals but benefits from tourists wandering out of the new and forthcoming north Strip casinos, shops and venues.

“Casinos will only do so much to drive business around here because their whole goal is to keep people inside,” White said. “I think this area south of Charleston and north of Sahara is up and coming though, and some of that attention Fremont East is getting will turn here. If there were more residential development, something in the middle range, then we’d see real sustainable growth in the neighborhood with more retail and restaurants.”

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