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Tuesday, August 28, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Executive exulted by first-year results of Desert Passage

The Arabian-themed Desert Passage shopping mall at the Aladdin, which celebrated its one-year anniversary last week, has been a "tremendous success," said Andrew Blair, chief operating officer of TrizecHahn Development.

The 500,000-square-foot mall is 90 percent leased, with sales of about $650 a square foot, 70 percent above the national average for regional shopping centers, Blair said.

It's also averaging 50,000 in daily foot traffic, he said, a figure that has been challenged by several of the mall's tenants.

"You look at a couple of our stores -- Chiasso and Build-a-Bear -- they're at the top one or two performers in their chains," Blair said. "Those traffic levels do lead to higher sales."

"Our store is doing quite well, actually," said Jane Ip, founder of the Jeanne Lottie line of women's handbags, which has a retail store at Desert Passage. "We get a lot of repeat customers from L.A., some people from Florida."

However, disgruntled tenants argue that Desert Passage managers have done a poor job of advertising the mall, have failed to sign a strong anchor tenant and offer a variety of offerings from street entertainers who detour potential customers past needy businesses.

Desert Passage has 130 stores and 14 restaurants, many of them with their first Las Vegas location.

New tenants on the way include the Benetton clothing store and Prana supper and night club, operated by the An family famous for the Crustacean restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Blair said the mall's location on the 50-yard line of the Strip and its mix of retailers have contributed to meeting first-year target numbers.

"It's a selection of retailers you don't find anywhere else, and we also cluster them. You've got eight health and beauty stores right next to each other," he said.