This is the online home of David G. Schwartz, who More about F&B and branding
With G2E upon us, I’ve been even busier than usual–hence no post yesterday. Here’s a preview of what I’ll be saying about food and beverage operations and casino brand identity, as covered in my LVBP column:
A property’s brand includes a great many things: the name, the architectural style, fonts used in signage and advertising, the uniforms, the entertainment, and the food and beverage offerings.To longtime casino observers, the idea of a “brand identity” for a casino may seem like a pretentious exercise in needless navel-gazing. After all, if you have loose slots and cheap eats, you wont be able to keep customers out of the place, right?
Actually, branding has been a big part of the casino game for decades. When the El Rancho Vegas, founded in 1941, decided in the early 1950s to position itself more competitively against the newer Flamingo and Sands casinos, it toned down the Stetson-and-jeans feel of the property for a more genteel French provincial ambiance. An important part of this change was transforming the Roundup Room dinner theater into the Opera House.
From there, I talk about the importance of selecting the right f&b mix for a property–something that most people in the business probably know but is interesting to talk about.
Posted in business of gamblingon 11/18/2009 11:08 am by Dave
11/18/2009 at 2:51 pm
Branding in casinos? One need only look to the posh aura surrounding Baccarat to see how casinos know to package their offerings. Joints that pick up the peanut shells and sawdust to install carpeting, know that they have to change their menu as well. The Venetian seeks out an upscale crowd and so has no massive buffet at all. Cheap beers at the Casino Royale are fine, but you won’t find such things being promoted at more upscale places.
Signature items or general menu offerings at onsite restaurants set the tone for the casino and are an integral part of “the experience” the tourists seek. Long ago some MBA type is supposed to have cancelled a money-losing signature shrimp cocktail. The casino’s drop is said to have immediately plummeted. Several weeks later the shrimp cocktail returned and the brand new MBA departed.
11/18/2009 at 6:40 pm
Hey Dave. This is a good article – telling about F&B from past to present. I bet that gaming conference is interesting (based on a few news articles I recently read).
I hope you are telling people about your ‘50 Years of vegas Dining Webpages’.
As far as buffets go…I guess Venetian doesn’t have one…and I’m not sure if Caesars (and Mandalay Bay) don’t have one either. Still….Wynn keeps his running and I’m glad of that. I don’t think a Vegas hotel should ever forego their buffet. I wonder if City Center will have one?
I can hardly wait to go to Wynn’s Buffet and to the one at Planet Hollywood (for the Shish-Kebab).
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Take care out there Big D.
11/21/2009 at 9:31 pm
I would think brewpubs or microbreweries would be a good fit in plenty of casinos in Las Vegas. They have many different flavors of beer to drink which are all usually pretty good and reasonably priced ($5 to $6 dollars for a 20 ounce beer) and the food is usually pretty good and reasonably priced ($6 to $10 dollars per meal).
When I lived in Las Vegas me and my friends used to go to the Triple 7 Restaurant and Microbrewery in Main Street Station Hotel and Casino. It was usually crowded and a lot of fun and reasonably priced. There is also The Pub inside the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino which I have never been to but I used to walk by occasionally and it was usually extremely crowded and there would be a half hour wait or so.