Las Vegas is apparently out-luxuriating Los Angeles. The Forum Shops are even more chic than Rodeo Drive, says a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Those high-rollers can apparently snap up a few thousand dollars of the world’s finest red wine in a few minutes. Local restaurants with 50,000-bottle cellars have cleaned up the best from the best wine regions in the world - Frabce, Italy, California and Australia to meet the demand.

And Strip buyers are snapping up the best produce from the Santa Monica Farmers Market for their restaurants. Some of the best produce never even makes it onto a stall.

The story suggest that there is, indeed, “a Vegas effect” that is drawing business in high-end retail, theater and food from Southern California to the Strip. Maybe that explains why our taxable sales numbers keep jumping higher every month.

When I was driving to work on Friday morning, on the other hand, there didn’t seem to any shortage of people at Wal-Mart and Best Buy hoping to snap up those $300 laptops.