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Mona Shield Payne
Maureen Crampton, marketing director of Forum Shops at Caesars, says increased competition on the Strip hasn’t hurt sales.
Monday, March 29, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Sun Coverage
Map of Forum Shops
Forum Shops
3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas
Las Vegas native Maureen Crampton has served as the marketing director of Forum Shops at Caesars since it opened in 1992 as the Strip’s first major retail destination.
The Forum Shops maintained its spot as the nation’s top-selling mall by generating sales in 2009 of about $1,400 a square foot, Crampton says. But that number was down from $1,500 a square foot in 2008.
The Strip has several malls. Has the competition hurt the Forum Shops?
The consumer does have more dining and retail options. But growth in the market, whether it’s the Palazzo or Grand Canal Shoppes or Miracle Mile, strengthens our position as a retail destination to the world. Crystals at CityCenter has so many luxury brands, I think it enhances our luxury brand mix. Several of them are duplications — Louis Vuitton, for example. Certainly it will take a share of the market, but it won’t necessarily decrease our sales because it adds hotel rooms and should bring additional tourists to the market.
Hasn’t the recession affected retail shopping, especially high-end retail?
Toward the end of 2008, everybody in Las Vegas took a hit. We were no different. And 2009 was a challenging year. We do business differently. We go more domestic. We go more regional. Las Vegas has done a good job of going more toward California and surrounding cities.
How much were sales down in 2009?
Single digits.
Have any retailers fared better than others during the recession?
Gucci can’t keep merchandise in its store. It was a hot ticket before this and it continues to be. It has a lot to do with brand and quality association.
If you had to pick any retailers you don’t have now, who would it be and why?
Chanel, because that’s the ultimate luxury brand. It brings a sense of prestige and quality recognized worldwide. But we are the melting pot of retail, so at the other end of the spectrum, I’d like to have H&M. It has a lot of endorsements with world-renowned designers, celebrity and affordability and will attract another customer. Another is Topshop out of the UK, which has worldwide recognition.
What is the future of retail on the Strip?
The recovery may take longer than we were anticipating, but if we adjust and accommodate and we are good businesspeople, we will come out of it stronger than ever. I’m uncertain whether the consumer is irrevocably changed because of this. We need to continue being a little bit more savvy and aggressive in doing business differently and appealing to the consumer differently. We can strengthen ourselves as businesses and do things in a different way so that the business owner, shopping center owner and the consumer all benefit.
A longer version of this interview appeared in the Las Vegas Sun’s sister publication In Business Las Vegas.
GUT all those stores that sell $2,800 trinkets and put in a Target.
"Get a load of that, Margret, a Target in side Ceasars. I'm hungry,
I'm goin to get me one of them thar hot prezels for .75 cents.
Jimmi Hoffa got to be turning in his concrete Jersey grave with comments like that
No surprise here. The rich people still have all the money. They are still getting outrageous bonuses and salaries.
The depression has really only affected the middle class.
We like the Miracle Mile hands down. Love the ambience!
those are not all "rich people" stores in there, folks.
anyone that says that is either really, really poor for them to think "guess" is a rich person store.
the rich get richer and the poor just b*tch.
Wow, stevem, then you must be pretty poor.
nope. you don't see me complaining about "evil rich people".
to me, the forum shops and other resort malls are like shopping museums. all i've ever seen is people walking around, window shopping, looking at the exhibits because they are often forced to walk through the mall to get to the casino. i've hardly ever seen a customer inside one of these stores. and if there are buyers for this big ticket retail items, doesn't it stand to reason that the trade off for money spent on "gucci" trinkets, etc. is gambling money in many cases. luxury items are easy substitutes for each other. diamonds instead of vacations. designer bags instead of shoes. burberry instead of chanel. i don't know if gambling has ever been considered a luxury item, but it now competes in that framework. apparently it is losing since gaming revenues are falling, while according to this article luxury retail sales are strong.
I believe that the fourum shops is a great mall. I agree that a lot of their stores are on the higher end of the spectrum, but I love stores like GAP, Marciano, and BEBE. I am so happy to hear something coming from the Strip, after reading the problems with City Center. Crystals may be the newer shoppong mall on the strip, but I think that the Forum shops blows it right out of the water.CONGRATULATIONS forum shops for a job well done!!!
i remember my first trip to vegas back in the summer of 2000 and the forum shops was pretty amazing.
the warner brothers store with bugs and taz in roman outfits, the fao horse, etc.
it was so "vegas". i think what's killing vegas shopping is that there are just too many of the same stores. how many bebe stores do we need? how many victoria secret stores do we need?
FAO was the one we always shopped at.
They just finished a remodel of the top floor, then closed.
Not much reason to shop there now.
They need a higher end toy/hobby store with the quality items you can't get at Toys R Us or Walmart.
Hey Bakersfield.....
You don't get it. They dont have a higher end toy/hobby store with the quality items you can't get at Toys R Us or Walmart because....thats right,..... when they had one, it went out of business because..... thats right,... the average joe blow could not afford to shop there.
Hey Boomer - I just don't think you get it. If you want to hit a Target there's at least 4 within about 10 minutes of the strip. I know, I've gotten in a cab and gone to them while in town, and as much as I love my Target - don't bother comparing the two.
The Forum Shops is a great mall, and no sorry, it's not meant to be a bargain basement experience (if it was I'm sure they'd install a sky painted ceiling in Target stores as well!).....hell even the Fashion Show mall has high end stores...yet, many of the retailers can easily be shopped at by the descerning consumer. Everytime I've ever been, everyone I've EVER brought with me has had nothing but praise for the Forum Shops, so drop this 'rich people stores' crap. The space itself is wonderfully designed and planned out. Even the architecture draws oohs and aahs from people. Yes, some of the stores in there are quite high-end, but I'm middle class, and I can afford to buy a few nice things in there (if I save some of my money, and shop smart) There's plenty of stores that one can buy reasonably priced clothes, accessories or even art, if you look carefully enough. And there's other stores that you could easily go into debt for too. Why is it so difficult to believe that the stores on the strip are mainly marketed to the people that come and visit the Strip? If you want a Walmart or a Toys 'R Us why the hell would you be on the Strip to begin with? Isn't that what strip malls are for?
Kudos to Maureen Crampton and the rest of the marketing team for staying creative and managing to compete with the other retail locations. As far as I'm concerned the Forum Shops will always be something special that the others are not...
It's times like this that I think my gig in PR for in the financial sector is so boring. Working for an outfit like the Forum Shops would likely get the creative juices flowing.
It's a real shame the FAO Schwarz has closed. I was there over Thanksgiving, and I dragged 4 of my friends in there....we all purchased goodies for our kids, and in my case something for myself.
It's a shame....that place really made you feel like a kid again. And a lot of stuff in there was very reasonable. Shame.
Completely agree with KarinaP. I am a local and shop at Forum Shops - my favorite, or Miracle Mile or the Canal Shoppes @ Venetian, when I'm on the Strip....and I'm not rich. There are plenty of Targets, Walmarts everywhere, not meant to be "Strip-type" stores. Good job Maureen Crampton for such diverse stores at the Forum Shops!
I shop online like how I read my news.