Mandalay Mall Aims For Tourist, Regional Blending
The new mall on the strip is chasing locals with its convenient parking lot and variety of stores. Many of these stores are not found elsewhere in the Las Vegas Valley. Mandalay Place, a 100,000-square-foot mall built on a trail connecting Mandalay Bay and Luxor Resort, will offer high-end restaurants and boutiques. Nike's first Nike golf store to wear high-end Nike clothing, shoes and equipment, and Urban Outfitters, catering to college students and the "urban" youth, are two of Las Vegas' only stores to open in October. "This is not a retail project created just for visitors," said Gordon Absheer, a spokesperson for Mandalay Bay. "This is a very unique combination of retail, and we think it will attract local shoppers as well." A special valet zone has been built so that shoppers do not have to enter Luxor and Mandalay Bay to give local residents easy access to the mall. And to set itself apart from the rest of the strip retailers where visitors can find many of the same stores on other themed properties, Mandalay Place is not a theme and 41 shops and restaurants - at least for now - won't be found anywhere else on the strip. "It's just an elegant space and retail will be an attraction," Absher said. Mandalay Place is also filling the strip retail shopping market, which the Mandalay Resort Group has never visited. Mandalay Place is the first large collection of stores between all the hotels and casinos of the Mandalay Resort Group at Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and Excalibur, on the southern end of the strip. The Mandalay Place Mall will be dwarfed by other luxury retail centers on the streets of Las Vegas, including Caesars' 510,000-square-foot Forum Shop, Venice's 500,000-square-foot Grand Canal Shop, and Aladdin's 475,000-square-foot desert walkway. Also on the strip, the Fashion Show Mall is about 1.9 million square feet. Mandalay Place is the second Las Vegas shopping mall to open this year. Las Vegas Premium Outlets, a 435,000-square-foot outlet mall, opened in August. Early on, Mandalay talked with Harold, a British retailer, and Nordstrom, a luxury chain, about anchoring a much larger mall. The conversations fell through, and the project was reduced to about half of the original cost. A new retailer expects to attract customers from Charlie Palmer's Aureole, one of Mandalay's restaurants, without worrying about attracting other shopping malls. Named for the ideal temperature at which fine wine should be served, 55-degree wine+Design will be operated by Andrew Bradbury, Aureole's wine director and is not connected to the restaurant. "This store will be a kind of retail store for high-end wine in the world," said Bradbury. The store will not only sell wine, but also have wine tasting bars and accessories. Along with the mall's unique group of stores, several restaurants will open during the mall's rolling opening throughout October and November. Restaurateur Piero Selvazo, owner of Valentino in Venice, will open his second Las Vegas restaurant, Cafe Giorgio, at Mandalay Place. Selvazo described Italian restaurants like tiramisu, which is a great multi-layered dessert. The restaurant will have a deli counter, a gelato stand, and finger food at the bar. A casual dining area is in front of the restaurant, while the center is a more intimate setting. There is an event space at the back of the restaurant. "The restaurant is where there are many different things, but everyone can find something," Selvazo said. Mandalay Resort officials did not reveal the exact opening date of the mall. Instead of working with retailers, the company developed the mall on its own. The cost of developing the mall is expected to range from $30 million to $40 million, a fraction of the company's estimated $300 million it spent on new projects in fiscal 2003. Mandalay's executives estimate the mall's annual sales at $750 per square foot.