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Jennalyn Schilke, of Las Vegas, is among regular Station Casinos customers appearing in the company’s new ad campaign. The ads feature testimonials from local patrons.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Jennalyn Schilke started going to Station casinos at age 7, romping in the Kids Quest child centers while her parents went to the casino floors.
Now 23, she’s still a Station regular. You can often find her playing the slots at Station’s Fiesta Henderson.
"I've just always been around Station Casinos," she said. "It's always just been about having a lot of fun."
That kind of loyalty has helped Station Casinos remain a mainstay in the locals market over the years.
Now, Station is featuring longtime customers like Schilke in TV ads aimed at portraying the company as part of the community fabric in Las Vegas.
Schilke became part of the new promotions in the same way she became a Station customer — by tagging along with her mother. She was featured in the commercials, in which customers talk about how they spend their loyalty points, after accompanying her mother to an audition for the campaign.
"I didn't know I'd get picked," she said. "My mom was the one who actually got the invitation (to audition). She asked me if I wanted to go along, and I said, 'Sure.'"
Station casinos were built around the idea that not everyone in Las Vegas is a tourist and a lot of people in the city might like a casino closer to home than the Strip or downtown. Station expanded a bingo parlor on West Sahara Avenue into the Bingo Station in 1976, which eventually became Palace Station. The Frank Fertitta family added other Station casinos through the 1990s and finished Red Rock in 2006 as the first $1 billion casino aimed at the locals market.
David Schwartz, director of UNLV's Center for Gaming Research, said it wasn’t likely that getting lifelong customers was a long-term goal when Fertitta started Station.
"Frank Feritta saw a market that wasn't being served at the time, and he served it. Then, as Las Vegas grew, the company grew with it," Schwartz said. "Casino executives are more likely to market for this quarter than for the long term. If you walked into a boardroom and said you had a marketing plan for the next 60 years, you'd probably be laughed out. But when their customers say they want something, like a bowling alley or a movie theater, these casinos have provided that."
Station has survived a bankruptcy battle that ended with the Fertittas surrendering minority interest to their lenders. The company's ongoing battle with the Culinary Union over the union's efforts to unionize Station workers has been bitter, with both sides taking direct aim at the other in advertisements.
Station's new ads featuring Schilke and other loyal customers come on the heels of a campaign that characterized the Culinary Union’s actions as being bad for both Station and the Las Vegas economy. But company officials say the new promotions were unrelated to the Culinary campaign.
“Our ‘We Love Locals’ advertising campaign is all about what the title suggests, which is a celebration of the affection and appreciation we have for our loyal guests and that our guests have for our team members," said Lori Nelson, vice president of corporate communications for Station.
Part of the community fabric as in take your kids to the casino????? In an insane world the sane are insane and we do live in a huge insane world!!!!!
I like the locations of the Stations Casino's. I like their marketing, their cleanliness, and their employees. It is all well done.
I don't like the financial gymnastics that have kept the founding family in a position of continued ownership, albeit in a somewhat diminished capacity while they refuse to allow their employees collective bargaining.
I vote with my wallet and since they refuse to allow these hard working folks a seat at the table my boarding pass continues to not see the light of day.
They used to bribe us with buy 1 get 1 free meals to go in, we moved to near the M casino and get no more bribes.
Bullcrap! Laughing here. Station's "We love locals..." MONEY! Since dada Fertitta passed, everything has gone downhill. Their machines are so tight, you can spend $100 in ten minutes and not get a $10 payout; the food prices have gone up while quality has gone way down; customer service, i.e., change personnel, is almost nonexistant; try to get a drink BEFORE you lose your money and have to leave; yea, right, they love locals...what a joke. I first went the night they opened, so I speak from experience...they lie. They offered my mom free play and when she went to play it, they told her it was a typo...really?? Your marketing/advertising manager didn't proof copy before it went to print??? Was too busy ripping off locals to see the mistake before it got mailed out to customers??? REALLY?? I find that hard to believe. A good business would have honored their offer, a company who professes to love locals would have said, "good luck"...not stations. If you, Stations, truly have "affection and appreciation" for your loyal customers, then loosen up your machines, bring back comps like there used to be, give out more than $5.00 once a week in free play (which lasts less than 10 seconds, not worth going for), enough already with the dumbarse penny machines, bring back quarter machines that pay something decent, stop the stupid drawings since the same "high rollers" win over and over again, let us locals win a little bit and I and my family just might come back. In this economy, there are alot of better things to do than to continue lining the pockets of the bratty, super rich Fertitta brothers so they can buy up another mansion while laughing at us sheeple all the way to the bank. What a joke...
Well said Jeff. They can appeal to locals all they want but when they treat employees with zero respect while the Brothers brag that they can write checks for millions (it's their casinos they should pay the bills) I sit out of Stations as you are.
Station Casinos and the Fertittas are engaged in a failing publicity campaign. The facts are they treat their employess badly,most are in constant fear of being fired for the least infraction and the mid management team are for the most part non responsive to customers requests out of fear of being fired themselves.
The facts are the owners wiggled their way into a bankruptcy that favored them and bankrupted many local unsecured businesses and creditors. If this sham of a bankruptcy were properly investigated by the U S Justice Department the hand cuffs may come out,quickly.
Employees don't want the union. They are treated as well or better than any casino in Vegas. Customers like Station because they give the best rewards (except possibly for South Point) and because it's easy to earn and redeem points. The Culinary thugs will never win, so they should just fold their tents and go home.
Comment removed by moderator. Personal Attack
Great advertising, I drug my kid through the casinos, dumped them at daycare and now they are repeating the process.
I rarely go to the neighborhood casinos. I hated going through a casino pit with my young child if we were there to see a movie or go eat at one of the restaurants. The cigarette smoke alone was a turn off. I avoid them at all costs if I can, either going through the closest door to my destination or waiting for a movie to appear at a regular movie house without the attached casino.
Stations is so tight every time I drive past it I hear squeaks.
Boycott Stations....now they are just stealing your money.
Kellan88 got it right! I used to go to Texas Station or Fiesta Rancho a couple times a month. With a hundred bucks or so, my girlfriend and I could play machines for several hours. Then we started to go through a twenty dollar bill every five minutes. Before we ever saw a cocktail girl, we'd be heading for the door!
Of course, no sane person expects to win on the slots all the time. But at least you should get a bit of fun out of your money! It got to the point that we were losing every time, and losing fast. When the fun was gone and even that small spark of (maybe) winning was gone, so were we.
Dave Griffiths:
I presume you would encourage a vote on this then? One with no names, 3 auditors, one by the union, one by the company, and one agreed upon by both sides.
Completely untraceable ballots cast in a verifiable camera free location and ballots opened and counted in a public place in each property. If what you say is true, I will change my tune, and open my wallet again. If what I think is true is true, you will support unions being allowed in the Station casino's?
Station Casinos has too many customers. One of their casinos was very rude to us, and we won't be back.
Does anyone see a pattern to the above comments? While they profess to "love locals," Stations has the impression -- no, make that reputation -- for treating locals like crap. A good ad campaign is a start, which they don't have yet. Loosening up their machines, improving their customer service and giving better comps all need to be done to bring back the local market. I refuse to visit any Stations casino. I just don't like how I'm treated there. Stations has a long way to go.
The owners of the Station Casinos have went union busting. Because, in the long run, it will save them money, affording more for profit.
Their bottom line is making more and more and most and most profit they can. If they have to fight unions to make sure they keep the wages low to their employees, denying them health care coverage, removing collective bargaining off the table and other perks that the average working person of Nevada enjoys that unions provide so they don't get hammered to death unfairly, they will do it.
Look at the incredible advertisement campaign that Stations Casino is throwing out there! They have decided to spend money to try to influence people to go against their best wishes. This decision was reached in order so they would reap millions of dollars profit to themselves.
I can just imagine how the employees are treated right now.
I guarantee if the employees at Station Casinos don't draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough, then look for years and years of unfair wages, no employee benefits and other predatory employer practices.
From what is seen right now, Station Casinos have decided their employees aren't important. To them they want the profit, and if an employee gets in the way because they want fair treatment, too bad. They're gone. The way they think, they can get someone else.
Fight them now. Because if you don't and roll over, you're playing their game. There is absolutely no excuse for unfair treatment at work. Union is the way to go.
Seriously, if you believe the "locals" are important to these Casinos, then you need to lay off the drugs. Cause I can guarantee you, we are so not important to them.
If you knew how the Fertitta's turned their noses up to public schools, you wouldn't have the same feeling about their "We Love Local's" slogan. It should be "We Love Gorman" The Brothers Fertitta do NOTHING to support public schools, but pour countless MILLIONS into Bishop Gorman High School (namely their athletic facilities). Trust me,the Fertita's dont care about locals, they care about THEMSELVES and their CRONIES. In a time that our schools are struggling and begging for money , these fools donate only to GORMAN.
Embrace mediocrity. Vote Union!
What is also not mentioned Stations was bankrupt in the amount of $6b. Most of it was written off and Stations is down to $2 B debt. The Fertitas still maintain ownership of Stations. Hello!! Isn't America wonderful?
Maybe the people in the food service side might want a union, but the dealers sure don't.
I'm not a slot player, so I can't really speak to the machines being tight or not. I like to play low-limit poker and have no complaints about Stations poker rooms. And now that Stations has opened up the rewards system so poker players earn status points it's even better.
I don't mind Stations fighting the union. What I mind is the tightest slots outside The Strip. We locals aren't totally stupid. We go where we get the most entertainment for our play money. Right now Stations is a 'locals joke'.
Have you guys seen those anti-union commercials from Stations on TV? Is it just me or do the employees in those commercials look like they are drugged? They speak so slowly and robotic like. Makes you wonder if they are really doing it with free will.
JeffFromVegas,
The process you propose would be a "secret ballt" vote on a union....which is exactly what Station Casinos management has agreed to.
The issue is that the Culinary wants a "card check" process where instead of each employee getting to vote in private, they sign cards. This process is not done in private and their votes are not secret. The process is open to massive abuse by the Union since workers are under huge pressure to sign if confronted by a large group of pro-union co-workers and a union organizer or two. There's no real potention for management abuse since there is no card to sign for "I don't want a Union". In a card check system once 51% of employees choose to (or get pressured to) sign cards...the Union wins.
So ask the Culinary Union if they will accept a secret ballot vote on organizaion at Station Casinos. You'll find their answer to ne "No. We want a card check system only."
Ever wonder why Stations is bombarding the media with mass marketing? One year after finalizing the bankruptcy, they are still begging their customers to return. Customers, they abandoned in a master plan to cut service to the bone by laying off several thousand employees. When they came out of bankruptcy, they trumpeted their efforts to hiring 1000 employees, half of what they fired during the bankruptcy. Now they expect those alienated players to come running back to Stations. Stations is learning basic rules of business. Never give a customer a reason to go to the competition and once you lose a customer, it is hell getting them back.
As far as the union is concerned, employees will attempt any address to get wages comparable to industry standards, which Stations does not pay. Dave Griffith, you must be a member of management for your opinions are the minority.
15 years ago I was a loyal customer, coming from out of town. I stayed at Palace Station because of the "local's" atmosphere. But then the hotel began charging that service charge in addition to the quoted room rate, a charge for things I never use. As time has passed, this resort fee as grown to a ridiculous amount and makes it more affordable to stay at other hotels. Should the day come when they end this disguise of a lower room rate by ending this resort fee, I will consider returning to Palace Station. Until then, you will not get my business in the hotel, casino, or restaurants.
$300 for a nickle 4 of a kind.Delete love and insert screw locals,more 5,7 pay tables than should be legal,this too big to fail stuff needs to end,if they cannot afford to play better poker than they do, they need to sell-out to somebody that can afford to.The floor people are starving to death because nobody wins often enough to tip !!
Comment removed by moderator. ALL CAPS
It is still a free country and if you do not like Station Casinos you can always go to the South Point or somewhere else. Locals tend to migrate to the places that have the better payouts on the slot machines. Go to where you are treated better.
I don't go to any of the corporate properties like Boyd, Harrahs, Stations, etc. They have too many 'hands' in the pot (too many 'fat cats', aka 'Vice Presidents'); thus the reason for the tight machines, sparse comps, 'phony' slot clubs. Your money will go much farther and you'll get more perks at a place like South Point. Only one owner to this place and he believes in giving to get.
No disclaimer about the close relationship between the Fertitas and the Greenspuns?
I support Station and the unwillingness to negotiate with illegal invaders.
Station Casinos claims to "Love Locals". I was assaulted in the slot area of Sunset Station on May 4,2012 by a teenage boy who should've never been in the slot area. I immediately reported it to their Security Agents. They did absolutely nothing! I had to request to fill out an incident report which they did nothing with. I was never contacted even after I made several attempts to contact someone. I finally made contact with Sunset's Insurance adjuster through an e-mail I sent. I deserved compensation after all I was subjected to from being assaulted, hurt, humiliated, and treated with zero respect by every team member I came in contact with that afternoon. I requested $1500 which was nothing after what I was put through. Chances are they would get it back any way. So if this is "Love" I wouldn't want to experience "Hate" by Station Casinos. I'm going to continue to pursue this incident. There are always several teenagers loitering in this casino. If security would do what they get paid to do this incident never would have happened.