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Archive for March, 2007


Friday, March 30, 2007
Who needs Horseshoe? Not Harrah's.
By David McKee
That's the conclusion reached by the Motley Fool's Jeff Hwang, who reports on depredations inflicted upon Horseshoe Tunica, possibly undoing much of the brand equity created by Jack Binion. Even though the Texas Pacific/Apollo Management buyout hasn't gone through, Harrah's continues to behave as though it were a done deal. It's enough to make me [...]
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Friday, March 30, 2007
News from Macao
By David McKee
Earlier this week, Business Press Editor Ian Mylchreest and I met with a couple of entrepreneurs, visiting from Macao. Our conversation yielded a few tidbits, such as that retail business is booming at the American-run casinos over there ($1 million a week at Louis Vuitton, if I remember correctly, maybe more) but languishing at the [...]
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Friday, March 30, 2007
The media: Liberal elites vs. the heartland
By Steve Sebelius
A lot of people in Las Vegas lament the local media. They say Las Vegans deserve a better quality of media, and that the newspapers and television stations that serve the valley — including CityLife, which we at Various Things & Stuff edit — are simply not as sophisticated as their counterparts in other places. [...]
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
The rich get richer
By Ian Mylchreest
The last really good year in the stock market and the real estate market — 2005 — has produced the greatest disparity in wealth since the 1920s, reports the New York Times. An analysis of IRS income figures shows that the top 10 percent of earners got 48.5 percent of all income. At the extreme [...]
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
Getting it right
By David McKee
From today's "Raving E-Mail Newsletter," issued by the good people at Raving Consulting, comes the tale of a casino that got it right. Casino personnel at Mohegan Sun found $406 in credits on a slot machine, contacted the woman who had left them and sent her a check by registered mail. More ››
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
On arenas, settlements and the value of double-checking
By Steve Sebelius
We knew that, eventually, Las Vegas would strike out on its own when it came to a sports arena. And the reason is one person: Mayor Oscar Goodman. See, Goodman has worked tirelessly on downtown revitalization, and he's had some big successes. But a key component of Goodman's vision for the downtown area was always [...]
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Wednesday, March 28, 2007
On tips, consistency and truth in media
By Steve Sebelius
We think the wording of NRS 608.160 is pretty clear: "It is unlawful for any person to take all or part of any tips or gratuities bestowed upon his employees." To us at least, that means that the practice at the Wynn Las Vegas of tip pooling — in which tips are "taken" from individual [...]
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Wednesday, March 28, 2007
More troubles for the housing industry
By Ian Mylchreest
New Century Financial is on the skids reports the New York Times. Not much of a surprise there but two home builders also had some bad news to reveal. Lennar announced that earnings plummeted by 73 percent in the first quarter, reports Bloomberg. Lennar is the largest home builder by sales. And Beazer Homes stock [...]
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Can't we all be kinder and gentler to the food?
By Ian Mylchreest
When two companies at opposite ends of the food market decide in one week that they have to be treat their food better, it sure starts to look like a trend. Last week, it was Wolfgang Puck who decided to use meat and eggs that met strict animal welfare codes. His top executives professed themselves [...]
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Tuesday Quick Hits
By Steve Sebelius
It seems that while Nevada Republican Party Chairman Paul Willis is out of touch with his own peeps, he's very much in touch with Pahrump brothel owner (and recent winner of the federally sponsored game show Who Wants to Get Indicted For Wire Fraud for Allegedly Trying To Bribe a County Commissioner in Order to [...]
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