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subscribe to style file blog via RSSEncore, Encore: Shopping Sin City’s Newest Hotel
January 23, 2009 5:10 pm
To get an idea of how desperate the situation has become in Las Vegas, you only need to look at the tourism board’s ad campaigns. Last summer, it was “Crazy Times Call for Crazy Fun.” Now, it’s “The Dangers of Thinking.” Are things really so bad in Sin City that you have to flip your brain to the off switch to visit? Not exactly. In fact, savvy travelers (who know casino hotels do whatever it takes to keep their volume up) can book rooms cheaper than ever. But this is hardly the best time to open a new luxury playground—which is exactly what Steve Wynn did a month ago with Encore, a $2.3 billion casino complex attached to the Wynn. Tellingly, the 2,304-suite hotel is surrounded by stalled projects—like MGM’s colossal CityCenter and the Fontainebleau, which opened in Miami Beach in December—that were supposed to one-up it. As if filling the craps tables wasn’t tough enough, Encore is hoping to lure luxury customers into its 11 new high-end shops. That would be tough enough in a normal city. In Vegas, where consumers go for clothes that make a statement—which is usually something akin to “It’s Fun Time!”—it would appear all but impossible. So how’s business, at a glance? My first stop at Encore was the world’s first stand-alone Rock & Republic boutique. Why Vegas, you ask? Sipping Champagne at a reception at the store last week, company president Andrea Bernholtz cited the “Steve Wynn fast track.” And Los Angeles zoning laws have pushed the opening of the brand’s Robertson Boulevard boutique to mid-February. The Encore outpost looks a lot like the R&R showroom in New York—a whitewashed Village town house interior. Apparently, their Keagan jacket, a sleek little leather bomber, is flying off the racks. But the only serious-looking shopper I saw after several passes was Bernholtz, who bought a dress for the party. When I walked the retail esplanade (twice) on Thursday afternoon, not one of the ten open shops (the 11th is Hermès, which opens in February) was serving more than one or two customers. Perhaps post-holidays isn’t the best time to gauge such things. However, salespeople will tell you certain items have been doing well. The shoe store In Step sold out of Marc Jacobs flats on day one, despite the salesgirl’s description of the clientele’s preference of “the higher the heel, the better.” At boutique Ensemble, the staff reported that Thomas Wylde, Notify denim, and Stephen Webster jewelry (thank you, Christina Aguilera ad campaign) have been all selling well. Meanwhile, a staffer at Alexander McQueen, next door at the Wynn, said the crowds were “insane” at the store’s early-morning 80 percent off sale. (Then again, so is an economy in which such deep discounts are becoming the norm.) But there’s something disconcerting about walking by a gilded Chanel store—especially when it’s the first one to combine full lines of jewelry, watches, and fashion—and see the clerks with no one except each other to talk to. Las Vegas’ fortune is notoriously up and down; conventions and special events—such as Chinese New Year, just around the corner—have a big impact on traffic. And casino stores like Encore’s, which are open late, do a good deal of their business at night. Sure enough, on the way back to my room following an evening performance of Encore’s aquatic-acrobat extravaganza Le Rêve, I spotted a pair of women having bags rung up at Chanel. OK, so maybe it’s not the end of the luxury world as we knew it. It just might not be the stuff that a designer’s and retailer’s dreams are made of—for the time being.
tags: Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Encore, Fontainebleau, Las Vegas, Rock & Republic, Wynn
I visited the Encore early this month,and was stunned by the creativity that Steve Wynn’s design team, or maybe Steve Wynn himself came up with. The shops are beautiful,along with the use of color and perfect manicuring of every nook and cranny. I have to admit there wasn’t as many customers as I thought there would be, but what attracted me was the sale at the trendy boutique Ensemble, along with the friendly salesman “David” I left that night spending what I didnt plan to. I’d like to think that was my way of helping the economy. Thanks, Melonie Calderon
By Melonie81 on 01/25/09 at 2:31 amTo you Melonie, you did a great job to buy more then you planned to do. For all of the other readers it’s important, to buy as much as in the past . If it is at The Gap, Zara or Macys, Barneys etc. it doesn’t matter. Recession time will go on this year but if we all stop buying clothes or whatever at the fashion stores or boutiques it will be an disaster for them. But also for us, there will be a lot of creativity lost and that’s the most devastating thing in fashion. We all love fashion so do your best and buy whatever you like for the sake of the fashion industry. Thank you all.
By Valerio on 01/25/09 at 3:40 pm