Desert Passage, the 500,000 square foot middle eastern themed shopping and dining complex at the Aladdin is now about 80% leased.

Some of new mall's occupants will be Tommy Bahama, Billy Martin's Western Lifestyle and Napoleon Fine Fashions for Men, Origins and Aveda and Sephora. Other shops and restaurants are Build a Bear Workshop, Tolstoys Elegant Pens, Royal Selangor, Discovery Channel, World of Charms, Bernard K Passman Galleries, Scott's Seafood Grill and Bar, an unnamed brew pub and pizzeria, a european cafe, Commander's Palace of New Orleans, Anasazi of Sante Fe, Blue Note Jazz Club, Bice of Italy, Lomardi's of Dallas and The Macanudo Steak House.

Lee Ann
Past, Present and Future Forum Moderator
leeann@talkvegas.com





[This message has been edited by Lee Ann (edited October 25, 1999).]

Lee Ann: Any idea if the Alladin's current 80% leased space is higher than the Venetian's--which has been open for months? [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

V,
I'm not sure about what percentage of the Grand Canal shops are occupied, but when we were there a few weeks ago it looked liked there were still many vacent storefronts didn't it. I'll have to ask Andy and see if he knows the answer to that question.

On a related note, there was an article in the business section of our local paper today concerning one of the new shops at Desert Passage called Build-A-Bear Workshop. As the name implies, this is a place where you choose and make your own stuffed animals. According to the article, it seems like the average price is about $10, not counting the outfits and accessories that most people also buy for
their animals. You pick fake-fur skins from a bin and then they are stuffed and stitched for you. You take them home in their own "condos" made of cardboard which can be colored. The company was started by Maxine Clark in 1997. She was president of Payless ShoeSource before she resigned to start the new business. She started with one store in St. Louis and now has 11 stores and sales of $18million. Three more stores are scheduled to open this year and 25 more are planned for next year. The goal is to have 300 stores by 2007. Clark said that in the beginning she thought that most of her customers would be children, but she has found that a large percentage of buyers are adults.

Lee Ann
Past, Present and Future Forum Moderator
leeann@talkvegas.com

I have found a website for the aladdin that has a lot of info, including updated construction photo's and pictures of the room's. If you would like the address I can email it to you.

Lee Ann: 300 stores sounds like a lot of stuffed animals. Do you think eventually there will be one in the Reading outlets? <g>

Doug: I'm not sure if your Alladin link is the hotel one, but you can view room and construction photos by going to the Alladin site on the Talk Vegas home page. Also, the general reservation line will open on January 10, 2000, for advance reservations
(877)333-WISH

Don't make any resrvations at the Alladin yet talked to a friend in the know in Vegas last week and they are out of money tring to get another loan.

Veronica,
That was my thought too, but it seems like this is a lady who knows what she is doing. <vbg> According to the article, it seems that people like the idea of being able to "create" a stuffed animal instead of just picking one off the shelf. Seems like they are making alot of money selling the accesories too. You can dress the animal in just about any kind of outfit you can imagine. (Don't think they have Rio cocktail waitress uniforms yet though) LOL
As for Reading, I wouldn't be surprised if they will have a store there before long. They sure have everything else don't they?

Lee Ann
Past, Present and Future Forum Moderator
leeann@talkvegas.com