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Friday, Aug. 31, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Sun coverage
Through a private door near the Wynn buffet, past a security guard and down an escalator, sits a small, brightly lit convenience store. Its shelves are lined with nylons, makeup, aspirin and snacks. Discounted Wynn merchandise hangs on racks.
Directly above it, slot machines ring and gamblers shout.
Resort guests would never know it is there. They aren’t supposed to. The store is for Wynn employees only.
Steve Wynn built The Staff Store as a convenience for workers. He included similar shops in the Bellagio and Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Miss., resorts he also designed before selling them to MGM.
Only a handful of resorts on the Strip have staff shops. They include the Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay and Aria. The Venetian and Palazzo offer an employee concierge service, where staff members can drop off dry cleaning and fill prescriptions.
“People will buy gifts for family who are visiting or pick up birthday cards at the last minute,” said Kristina Elder, the store’s manager.
Behind the counter sits a gregarious 88-year-old woman most of the resort workers know as Grandma Mary. Mary Kepler has worked at the Staff Store since it opened with the Wynn in 2005. She has become one of its most well-known assets.
Kepler greets every customer and showers them with attention. She has comforted employees during tough times and is in the process now of helping a casino worker study for his law school entrance exam.
"She really inspires others," her daughter Kathie Harrington said. "And if she finds out you’re from the Midwest, you’re in for an hour conversation."
Kepler worked at a Hallmark store in her hometown of Iowa Falls, Iowa, and moved to Las Vegas in 1986 with her husband. Once here, Kepler worked at a crystal store in Fashion Show mall, then jumped to gift shops at the Liberace Museum, Sahara and New Frontier before moving to the Desert Inn in the early 1990s. She stayed at that resort until it closed in August 2000.
Kepler didn’t have to go far for her next job. The Wynn opened on the site of the Desert Inn five years later.
Now widowed, Kepler lives on her own and drives herself to work. She is one of three Staff Store employees and is so popular among Wynn workers, people worry when she takes a break.
"She went on a short vacation awhile ago and every day, people were coming in asking if Mary was OK and if everything was all right," Elder said.
The shop is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m daily and sits across from an employee dining room, near a network of hallways, storage rooms and loading docks. A security guard checks workers’ badges when they enter the area.
Employees stream through to replace snagged stockings, buy a pack of smokes or grab a quick bite. Wynn officials wouldn’t say whether workers get discounts on sundries (they do on Wynn T-shirts and hats), but the store at the very least keeps them clear of lines in guest gift shops.
Cans of Red Bull, which sell for $3, line two shelves and pack a cooler. The energy drink is by far the store’s biggest seller.
“I don’t think we’d be able to keep our doors open without Red Bull,” Kepler said.
With world-class dining, shopping, spas, golf and entertainment, there's no shortage of things to do at Wynn. The resort’s aquatic acrobatic show, “Le Reve—The Dream,” a creation by Cirque Du Soleil veteran Franco Dragone and Steve Wynn, will leave guests wanting more with its breathtaking performances that conjure an imaginary world. The Wynn Esplanade offers a unique shopping experience with stores including Chanel, Manolo Blahnik, Christian Dior, Oscar de la Renta and many more. Tryst is its signature nightclub, offering a secluded lagoon inside the club and spacious dance floor. Blush, the Wynn’s ultra lounge, draws swanky party-goers. Tryst, Wynn’s signature nightclub, is situated along a private lagoon under a 90-foot waterfall and plays host to some of the world’s most renown DJs.
Bellagio had a great staff store until MGM came along and decided it was more important to line the pockets of their executives than to do something beneficial for the staff.
@sportyyetpratical
I heard the same thing from staff as far away as Beau Rivage in Biloxi, MS. The employees really mourned that Wynn sold the properties off because they cut bad so severely on both amenities as well as maintenance budgets because of City Center. Though very little of it returned once that project was complete. Wynn absolutely was not without his own problems with outlying management, and he himself is not someone who is that pleasant to deal with directly (especially when something sets him off), but everyone always said that at least he took care of the employees to keep them happy.
Of all the gaming companies and leaders I have worked for, Wynn stands alone. He, and he alone gave thought to making his employees feel special. Much different than the scum I work for now at the luv the locals toilets.
Little things don't mean alot - they mean EVERYTHING.
First of all, MGM took over Mirage Resorts way before City Center was ever dreamed up. To say that they cut anything when taking over because of City Center means you don't know what you are talking about. Also, there is a reason he LOST control of Mirage Resorts. He spent and spent and his stock took a crash as a result allowing MGM to take over. As far as employees loving Steve Wynn, go ask a couple of dealers from Wynn or Encore how they feel about him.
Yes Wynn does do more then most of the little things. But he is still a a..h...
I wonder if he charges his employees $4 & up for water like he does his honored "guests"?
And you wonder why Wynn has the most loyal employees?? He takes care of them. A lesson ignored by the other debt ridden grind joints