Desert Passage to specialize in “shoppertainment”

Lisa Snedeker

Sunday, Aug. 13, 2000 | 3:24 a.m.

Desert Passage will be the Strip's largest mall when it opens along with the Aladdin.

The retail, dining and entertainment center will feature 130 shops and restaurants such as New Orleans-based Commander's Place and New York's Blue Note Jazz Club.

And while it is adjacent to the Aladdin hotel-casino, it is not in keeping with overall fantasy theme of the property.

In fact, it is just the opposite.

"Where the Aladdin has gone to fantasy, we have taken the complete opposite approach," said spokesman Paul Beirnes. "We've taken authenticity to a whole new level. Everyone of our lights and lamps and sconces were handmade in Morocco."

Much like the Venetian's Grand Canal Shoppes and Caesar's Forum Shops, the 500,000-square-foot mall will specialize in "shoppertainment," the concept of making a purchase part of an entertainment experience.

Marketing executives for the competition say there's plenty of room for growth, adding they believe the opening of Desert Passage will only expand the market in Las Vegas and not likely chip away at the established outlets.

"It'll be one more place for visitors to see," said Fred Walters, general manager of the Grand Canal Shoppes. "The people that visit us now will be expecting more from us."

Part of the experience developer TrizecHahn wants to create with Desert Passage is traveling through the "great market cities of the world from Morocco to North Africa across the sands of Arabia to India - the old spice trade routes," Beirnes said. "We've recreated that bustling cobblestone one would expect in a market city."

The goal is to make the environment so immersive that it will directly translate into retail sales for the merchants who are in process of stocking their wares, Beirnes said.

The mile-long complex will also be home to musicians, acrobats and artisans who hail from the same exotic places Desert Passage is modeled after.

Beirnes said it also will be affordable.

"We're not all buying $10,000 purses," he said. "It's not way over the top."