Desert Passage workers transferred after closure

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2002 | 11:16 a.m.

Ark Las Vegas Restaurants Corp., operator of Alakazam Food Court at Desert Passage mall in the Aladdin resort, said it closed the food court last week and transferred most of its 40 to 50 workers to its 20 other remaining food operations in Las Vegas.

"The closure of Alakazam has nothing to do with our corporate plan in Las Vegas. The food court (which opened in 2000) was a major investment that didn't pan out. The traffic didn't generate enough customers for our business," Paul Gordon, Ark Las Vegas' senior vice president, said.

Robert Towers, chief operating officer of parent company Ark Restaurants Corp. in New York, said the company intends to continue to expand and open new restaurants in Las Vegas, but declined to reveal further details.

"The Aladdin hotel-casino is in bankruptcy. After 9-11, our sales volumes fell even more dramatically, but business has picked up again especially since this summer," he said. "But without making enough return on an investment based on the original lease we signed and with the architectural constraints placed on us, we'd rather put our money to better use elsewhere."