Five Hundy by Midnight 141: Retail Shmetail

/ Tim

Las Vegas podcast #141 includes:

  • Reaper opener
  • Burger joint replaces white tigers at Mirage
  • Strip trolley become The Arrow
  • Christmas in Las Vegas
  • The state of The Strip
  • CityCenter
  • Cosmopolitan
  • Palazzo
  • Encore
  • Echelon
  • Fountainbleau
  • Listener calls about the dealertainers at Imperial Palace, changes at Mirage, Fleur de Lys and Eye Candy at Mandalay Bay, and Planet Hollywood room themes
  • Trippies 2007 Official Nominee - Vote Now!


Five Hundy By Midnight 11/11/07 (51:20 min, 47.1 MB)

17 thoughts on “Five Hundy by Midnight 141: Retail Shmetail”

  2. So when is the official regular “shopping” segment
    going to start – suggest the theme tune to “Are you Being Served” as the play in.

  3. I’m listening to the 11/11/07 FHBM as I type this. The BIG QUESTION about all those condos is: who would ever want to own a condo, or even rent a condo from the owner? Even if I could afford one of these condos (won the Powerball for instance), I’d rather stay in the various hotels on the Strip or even Downtown (Golden Nugget) rather than the same apartment every time I go to LV.

    I agree with Tim–the Strip really can have too many places to shop. The Fashion Show Mall alone has around 250 stores per their website. Add the Forum Shops at Caesar’s, the mall at the Venetian, and the shops at Plant Hollywood, (not to mention the smaller shopping malls at other casinos) and you have hundreds of stores right there. Sorry, Michele.

  4. What I don’t like about the Deuce is that every single Deuce is supposed to make every single stop along the route (and bypasses a stop only if the bus is packed). Before the Deuce, there was a #301 bus that made roughly the same stops the Deuce does, and there was also a #302 Strip Express bus that stopped only at DTC, Fremont, Charleston, Stratosphere, Circus, Mirage, Bellagio, Excalibur and SSTT. The 302 did not always have to hug the rightmost lane, so it sometimes made pretty good time.

    The vegas.com site says the Arrow will go downtown, and down to the South Point. I will give it a try the next time I visit–the worst gridlock on the strip is between Sahara and Tropicana, so it will be nice to be able to use the monorail for that part of the strip, and the Arrow for the rest.

  5. Given the podcasts the past few weeks, I think we know clearly how Tim proposed to Michele:

    Tim: Will you marry me, I promise to bring home the bacon every night!

    Michele: Mmmmmm…Bacon…every night…Mmmmmm

    Tim: Does drool mean ‘Yes’?

    Incidentally I do not think I have seen a photo. Can you settle a debate and share if Tim has a mustache or not?

  6. I once thought about growing a mustache, but only once.

    Speaking of Christmas in Vegas. I visited there in mid-December of 2005. Great time to visit because everything is quiet, cheap rooms, and uncrowded casinos.

    Caesars puts up a huge tree in front of the casino that completely changes colors every few seconds, the Bellagio fountains have Christmas music, and the Belligio garden area is decorated with a Christmas theme. You must go to the Bellagio around Christmas…very cool. But, a trip downtown is also a must and not just for holiday-theme Freemont Street experience, but that Santa with the showgirls is a required visit. The showgirls were typical outdoor second rate showgirls, but Santa looked like they dressed up a homeless guy to sit there….classic vegas. There wasn’t a kid within a hundred yards of him. HO HO HO

  7. Don’t order the “Montecore” burger–it might eat YOU!

    Dude, link to Echelon’s site. I can’t find it.

  8. Pat from Minneapolis–for now-

    I met a dentist from Denver who owned a condo at Signature. He had it so when he came here, which was one week of every month, he knew he always had a place to stay, even on New Years or Valentines or someother typically sold out days. The place had a furnished kitchen and all that. He could keep clothes there so no reason to pack. Sort of like a second home. When he is not using the place he gives the key to friends and family.

    I have a friend who is a professional gambler. During this past baseball season he needed a place to stay for the 6 months or whatever. He rented a suite at Signature from an owner who bought it for the sole purpose of renting it out and selling it in the future for potential profit.

  9. December also brings the Rodeo and Marathon to town.

    As for retail, I can hear it now….

    “Las Vegas Nevadddaaaa!!!”

    “I’m just thinking of all…the amazing buys… that we’ve had…here in…Las Vegas.”

    “I hope that you’re having an enjoyable stay here in Las Vegas, and also hope that you have been shopping, I do wish that for you.”

    “They’re gonna buy daddy the Rainman suits. Ya dig that. We’re shopping in Vegas, Mike, Vegas”

    “You think we’ll get to the mall by noon?”

    “Honey…we’re gonna spend five-hundy by noon”

    “YEAH!!!”

    “Vegas!!!…Vegas Baby Vegas!!”

    FiveHundyByNoon…the original Las Vegas shopping podcast.

  10. On the City Center condo question… Some notes:

    For the Harmon and Mandarin towers, which have hotel rooms and condos, the condos are the higher floors, yes. Typically they even have a skylobby for condo guests as well.

    The City Center Resort (this will not be the final name) will be where the high rollers are housed. Two story presidential suites on the top floors are in the plans I’ve seen.

    The CC hotel is meant to eclipse Bellagio as MGM Mirage’s highest end property (but Bellagio is going to continue to be upgraded – it’s a jewel of a type of resort that will likely never be built again).

  12. You guys kick ass, VEGAS VEGAS VEGAS. and I am more of a people and place watcher when I go. SO I like seeing/hearing the happenings when I’m not there. I need to go back soon. Maybe next summer.

  15. Sam Harris Fan posted this on two sites so Ithought you might be interested as it’s in your neck of the wiide.

    “Someone I know is in contention for the “Change The World” contest at HGTV. This woman has endured quite a bit – she has two small boys and her husband died 18 months ago. I know Kris pretty well and she is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. She phoned me today and asked if I would vote for her and her family in this contest. She said “it would be like we won the lottery.”

    I am asking, if you would, to vote for her and to forward this to others you might know. If you met Kris, you’d fall in love with her. Thanks for your consideration…

    http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/ah_change_the_world/text/0,,HGTV_30676_65518,00.html “

  17. Tim,

    I’ve seen the future of retail, and it’s a nightmare.

    I spent the week in Holland, and the first thing I saw when leaving Schiphol airport was a casino right next to the immigration line… but then I looked again and realized there was a huge H&M store standing right across from it.

    But then it got worse. I went to central Amsterdam my last night to have a look around. Within 2 minutes of a leisurely walk along a single street I was confronted with not two, but THREE INDIVIDUAL H&M stores.

    Why does the world need three H&M stores on one street so close together? From the middle store you look each direction and see the others. This could happen in Las Vegas if they continue to build retail space for no reason.

    My last confrontation with retail was when I was wandering around not knowing which way to go to find the red light district… suddenly I spotted a building around the corner with red lights in each window and the outline of a woman standing in each window. I quickly sped up thinking I was there… only to find out that it was a damned Victoria’s Secret store made to screw with people’s minds.

    Do we really want a Las Vegas future where a retail store will interfere with one’s ability to succeed at a game of Hooker Hunt?

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