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The last ten years have
seen a dramatic turnaround in the profile of shopping in Las Vegas.
Before the unveiling of the mind-boggling Forum at Caesars Palace in
1992, none of the casinos had its own shopping mall, and the city's
stores catered almost exclusively to locals. Since then, malls and
arcades have been opening everywhere, and the shopping craze has reached
the point where an amazing two-thirds of visitors to Las Vegas in one
survey cited the shops as the main reason to come.
Sales tax in Nevada is set at 7.50 percent.
Not that Las Vegas is a great destination for bargain hunters ; apart
from the odd souvenir store, it's not tacky, and it's not cheap.
Instead, tourists can expect to encounter jazzed-up outlets of all the
usual chains to be found in any US suburban mall, plus a leavening of
high-end international names. What's really generating all the
excitement is that the big casinos have started to bring Las Vegas's
traditional flair for display and presentation to these shopping malls,
turning them into must-see attractions. As for what makes the malls the
most profitable in the nation, it would be nice to imagine that the city
is full of successful gamblers who can't wait to flaunt their new-found
wealth. |
However, the truth is
more likely that visitors find themselves losing so much on the tables
and slots, with nothing to show for it, that getting something in return
for their money - however expensive - suddenly seems a miraculous
alternative.
Along the Strip in particular, the shopping boom shows no signs of
faltering. The arrival of the exquisite but very small Via Bellagio at
Bellagio in 1998 did little to rock the Forum's throne, but things
hotted up in 1999, when the Venetian unveiled its gloriously
over-the-top Grand Canal Shoppes . Since then, the Desert Passage at the
revamped Aladdin has appeared, on much the same extravagant scale, while
Mandalay Resort Group has been pressing ahead with the construction of a
huge new mall between Luxor and Mandalay Bay; negotiations for Harrod's
of London to be its anchor have fallen through, but something
spectacular is certainly in the offing. Not to be outdone, the Strip's
veteran Fashion Show Mall is in the throes of a massive expansion.
more... |
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