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Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 | 1:55 a.m.
Marilyn Winn
When Wynn Resorts hired Marilyn Winn in November to replace Andrew Pascal as president of the company's Wynn Las Vegas and Encore resorts, some industry experts wondered whether her arrival marked a cultural shift for a company that caters to well-to-do travelers with two of the Strip’s poshest resorts.
Winn, one of only three female casino presidents on the Strip, previously ran the Bally's, Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood resorts for Caesars Entertainment, formerly known as Harrah’s Entertainment.
More significantly, Winn’s prior employer has been called the Wal-Mart of the casino industry for assembling the largest chain of casinos nationwide and for pioneering formula-driven technology to market to a largely middle-class audience of slot machine gamblers.
But Winn, who worked in upper management at Caesars for 22 years, said she has no intention of watering down Wynn’s high-end brand or adopting Caesars’ marketing playbook.
“Taking what Harrah’s has done and installing it here wouldn’t work. We don’t have a (nationwide) network of casinos," she said. "We are absolutely focused on the luxury market.”
Winn is restructuring the upscale casino company somewhat, however, by adding an executive-level marketing position and removing one of two chief operating officer jobs in Las Vegas -- the position recently held by Robert Oseland at Encore. Winn said she asked Oseland to stay on with the company, but he chose to leave.
Three other managers, all lower-ranking, left the company in the wake of the restructuring, which is intended to change titles and job duties rather than save money by eliminating positions, she said.
“We’ve asked people to perform some other functions ... after taking a look at the functions we need,” she said.
Former Caesars vice president of marketing Michael Weaver began work this week as senior vice president of marketing strategy for Wynn Resorts, a new position that will include many forms of marketing, including corporate branding and casino promotions.
Wynn Resorts has so far avoided the more drastic downsizing of some of its peers and is performing better than most in spite of flagging profits in Las Vegas. The company's debts are relatively small and most of its earnings are generated in Macau, which is booming along with the Chinese economy.
The company opened a second casino resort in China, Encore at Wynn Macau, in April and is developing a third there.
Wynn Resorts was also one of the last of the Strip giants to lay off employees. The company cut more than 250 rank-and-file workers last summer as part of a move to restore part-time employees to full-time status.
There is never any shortage of money to pay taxes, just the shortage of desire to pay for State Services and the abundance of tax attorneys with large incomes to supplement.
Jon, are you sure you're not commenting on the wrong article?, it has nothing to do with tax avoidance (which is legal as opposed to tax evasion which is not) or the compensation of tax advisors, including tax attorneys. What I took from this is that whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit Steve Wynn is a very shrewd businessman, who seldom makes a wrong move. Unlike the other casino operators in Las Vegas, e.g. MGM, Caesars, et al, he did not take on a lot of debt and was in much better shape to weather the recession and the weak recovery we are in now if you can call it that. Furthermore, he's in the right market segment for this economy, the luxury segment, which has not been as adversely effected by the downturn. Additionally, he does not have the millstone around his neck which is City Center, which he never would have built. His selection of Ms. Winn as CEO, after I'm sure, very careful consideration, may turn out to be a huge winner (no pun intended) for him as well.
I am curious. What kind of client are they trying to attract? They say "luxery market". What does that mean. Is it middle income? Upper income? Whales?
She has already started to "water down" the services for the guests. Andrew was a much better choice for the position! She has looked thru the depts to see where she can chop and continues to do so. No improvements have happened under her watch, only nervous and untrusting employees. Once she runs out of places to cut, her usefulness will be over. Watch and see.
worst move of all time- not sure what he is thinking....
seriously..this article is just eluding to a sugary sweet environment, lollipops and gumdrops, when in reality the staff is nervous about more cuts and middle managers are having to re-apply for their own jobs! There was no mention in this article about the 100 or so jobs eliminated during the past few weeks and the fact that while other casinos are hiring and restoring benefits, Wynn is still chopping away.
Almost the entire executive team has been "turned over". The shareholders get paid a dividend, the stock price is well over $100/share and managers get NO BONUS yet again for the third year in a row - seems to me that where Stevie was known for taking care of his people back in the day, that they are now just numbers and workhorses - let's suck every ounce of blood out of our people and cut bonuses, advancement opptys and cost of living raises and expect them to stay when the economy turns around - good luck. This is a train running off the rails.