VEGAS INC. looks to Las Vegas Advisor publisher Anthony Curtis for updates on SLS, formerly Sahara.
“He [Kreeger] knows how to deal with locals, how to deal with the middle market and he comes from very, very severe distress,” said Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor. “I think they got a real good guy in there.”
Now, the question is how crippling are the problems that Kreeger (current president) inherited?
In October, SLS announced that it was laying off 2 percent of its workforceafter evaluating business needs. Later that same month, the resort announced that Kreeger was replacing president and chief operating officer Rob Oseland, who left to work on another resort project. Then, in November, SLS closed its buffet.
At least some of those changes aren’t unusual for new resorts.
Curtis said it’s typical for properties to open overstaffed and then make adjustments. As for the departure of Oseland, Schwartz said that “often the person who builds the casino doesn’t end up running it for a long time.”
The closure of the SLS buffet is a different story, in Curtis’ view.
“That’s not remotely normal. A buffet is very important in the whole Vegas experience,” he said. “For a place to open and have that happen so quickly is definitely a negative sign.”
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