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 7.25
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.
Not every casino has succumbed to
the mall-building craze, however. Both
the MGM Grand and the Mirage
devote a tiny proportion of their
space to shopping, while others among
their neighbors stick to the
traditional formula of offering only
souvenir-type stores, such as Luxor
's enjoyable selection of
Egyptian-themed outlets.
Neither is there all that much
variety between one major Strip mall
and the next, in terms of actual
stores. Thus Ann Taylor and bebe have
four outlets each within half a mile,
at the Forum, the Grand Canal Shoppes,
the Desert Passage, and the Fashion
Show Mall, while several others are
represented three times over. Bellagio
may have won a much-publicized tussle
to secure the Armani store that the Venetian
wanted, but there was already one at
the Mirage , and an Armani
Exchange in the Forum.
As a city of over a million
inhabitants, Las Vegas has of course
its fair share of busy shopping
districts - most notably along South
Decatur Boulevard and South
Maryland Parkway , a couple of
miles west and east of the Strip
respectively - as well as the kind of
malls you'd find anywhere in the
United States. Once again, however,
few visitors bother to stray far from
the Strip.
Malls on the Strip
Desert Passage The Aladdin
, 3663 Las Vegas Blvd S tel
1-888/800-8284, . Sun-Thurs 10am-11pm,
Fri & Sat 10am-midnight. Although
the Desert Passage mall has yet to
attract the same volume of customers
as either...
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Malls elsewhere
The Boulevard 3528 S Maryland Parkway
at Desert Inn Blvd tel 732-8949, .
Mon-Fri 10am-9pm, Sat 10am-8pm, Sun
11am-6pm. Nevada's largest shopping
mall has stood a couple of miles east
of the Strip for over thirty years,
but...
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Factory outlets
Belz Factory World 7400 Las Vegas Blvd
S tel 896-5599. Mon-Sat 10am-9pm, Sun
10am-6pm. Roughly two miles south of
Mandalay Bay , on the east side of Las
Vegas Blvd (which by this point is no
longer called the Strip), Belz...
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Fashion and accessories
French Connection Desert Passage, The
Aladdin , 3663 Las Vegas Blvd S tel
733-6420. Sun-Thurs 10am-11pm, Fri
& Sat 10am-midnight. Sleek UK
chain, introducing Las Vegans to its
capsule range of affordable, sexy
urban basics...
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Vintage clothing
The Attic 1018 S Main St tel 388-4088.
Mon-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm.
Located in an insalubrious area south
of downtown (just a little too far to
walk), this shrine to vintage
Americana both chic and kitsch charges
customers a dollar...
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Shoes
Jimmy Choo Grand Canal Shoppes, The
Venetian , 3355 Las Vegas Blvd S tel
733-1802. Sun-Thurs 10am-11pm, Fri
& Sat 10am-midnight. The last word
in elegant female footwear, brought to
you by the aptly named Malaysian...
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Health and beauty
Sephora The Venetian ,
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S tel 735-3896, .
Daily 10am-midnight. Extremely
glamorous perfume and cosmetics store,
located right on the Strip beneath
Madame Tussaud's and stocking a
phenomenal...
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Gifts and souvenirs
Ancient Creations Grand Canal Shoppes,
The Venetian , 3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
tel 414-3701. Sun-Thurs 10am-11pm, Fri
& Sat 10am-midnight. An antiques
store with a fascinating difference;
these are real antiques, dating
back...
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Books
Albion Book Company 2466 E Desert Inn
Rd tel 792-9554. Daily 10am-6pm. The
valley's best stock of secondhand
books, with 150,000 titles including
large sections on Las Vegas and the
West, plus a big collection of used
audio books at...
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Music
Big B's 4761 S Maryland Parkway tel
732-4433, . Mon-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun
noon-6pm. University District music
store, with well-informed staff and a
large stock of CDs and vinyl, both new
and used. Tower Records at...
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Electronic equipment and cameras
The Good Guys 4580 W Sahara Ave at
Decatur tel 364-2500, . Daily
9am-midnight. The best source in Las
Vegas for electronic goods of all
kinds, from computers to TVs and audio
equipment. Also at Boulevard Mall. ...
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