AC in Transition
The sign on the Walt Whitman says 55 miles to Atlantic City but only 6 miles to Ben Salem's new slot Parlor! A generation ago they blamed Jet travel for killing the off season tourist business in A.C. Tomorrow will they blame mass transit? This post is the 3rd installment of my "AC in Transition" series:
The bad news just keeps pouring in these days for Atlantic City's struggling Casino Industry in spring 2007. With the results of the Trump Plaza's Dealers vote to unionize fresh on their minds and stronger PA slot parlor figures arriving daily its starting to look as if the bloom is off the rose for the Industry as the BIG SHOTS ponder its future. Or should I say OUR future. All of sudden that 60 mile ride from Down town Philly once just a shot away now might as well be a light yrs. away for the Casinos. To survive the Industry now has no choice but to successfully make the transition from being a resort version of the "1 night stand" to "destination resort", something its been talking about for decades but never could bring itself to do. The lure of easy money was just too much and most of the Industry geniuses thought that with millions of people within a 150 mile circle that it would always be that way. Till now! Here in spring 2007 its becoming painfully obvious that the as they saying goes "the gig is up" and its now time for these Big Corps. to put up or shut up, or should I say FAIL. Which is ok by me and many others locally. Why? Because maybe its time to rid the Industry of the easy money management crowd and their "let the good times roll in on buses forever mentality". The era of the slot grind Casino is AC is dead this spring and good riddance. What we need now are more owners & operators like the crowd that owns and manages Borgata. At least these folks understand their in the ENTERTAINMENT business not the accounting business or the legal profession. The Borgata Owners and Managers GET IT! Harrah's Corp. which owns four of the areas Casinos seems conflicted. Trump is up for sale and many think Colony which owns the Hilton and Resorts is looking to sell as well. Good riddance to Donald and his debt buried empire and Colony's penny pincers as well. IMO neither of these companies have the vision to survive the lean times ahead as the town adjusts to the new realities. As for the new crowd that just bought up the Trop. It seems in the short term anyway that they are acting just like the rest of the Corp. bean counters that dominate most American Corps. today. Not a good sign , but its still too early to render judgment on them.
The Work Force - Key to the Future
The CUT and SLASH motto that permeates the Casino Industry in AC today with its attendant philosophy that says "fire all the full timers" so we don't have to provide benefits is IMO driving away the talent needed to run a first class resort. Is it any wonder the dealers are rapidly unionizing? The management philosophy that dictates and celebrates reducing its work force to groveling scared animals, happy to just see one more friggin day at work has got to stop in a town that needs to sell 1st class service as part of its marketing package! Its really simple, you cannot have any of this with a sullen angry and demoralized workforce. Unfortunately, The sad reality is the Casino Corps. have for the most part become lousy places to work and unhappy employees especially in an entertainment based business transmit this message to the customers in a thousand different ways daily. This is another cancer eating away at AC's future and its got to stop. Management cannot get away with only spreading all the "goodies" around to itself. It has to provide incentives to attract the best and the brightest people in the Industry at all levels, especially now with plenty of other Casino resorts opening up and almost begging for them to apply!
The Best of the PAST
In todays hyper-competitive climate with new Gaming resorts and new types of entertainment coming at us from every direction a place like Atlantic City simply could NOT afford to be shedding some of the better features of its past faster then it built itself a new future! In just 7 short yrs. we've lost the Miss America Pageant, The round the Island swim, The Gardeners Basin seafood faire, and most IMPORTANTLY the BEAUTIFUL OCEAN VISTAS off the Boardwalk. Hell, Scott Abbott local Ventnor City Solicitor even threatened to sell LUCY "the elephant" off to Vegas a few yrs. ago! Whats next?? All of these non-Casino events and attractions we're needed and discarding or losing them is just going to make it more difficult to hold on to the customers we already have. Add to this the decline of much of the rest of the local non-Casino based tourist/ restaurant/bar/nightclub Industry in and around AC over the last 30 yrs. and what are we going to have left that will attract people here in the off season?
The False Spring?
It looked for a moment 3 yrs. ago that things were poised to go in just the opposite direction with Borgata booming , the Trop. Qtr. opening and the Walk starting to happen. All signs in that moment in time seemed to be pointed in the right direction. Now all these positive events are being eclipsed by all of the things and trends I've just mentioned. Some are saying that what we just lived through was really just a false spring. Maybe Yes, maybe No? We'll know soon enough.
Right now Atlantic City and environs is @ a critical crossroads and depending on what kind of decisions the folks that own, manage and regulate the Casinos make, we'll either survive to become a 1st class destination resort like Las Vegas or Can Cun or just another over the hill 3rd class Casino pit stop to be visited ONLY in summer.
5 comments:
Allowing the Casinos such a wide mandate killed off AC's non-casino tourist industry. Nobody could compete against what every Casino could simply give away and write off as an expense. But now the bread and butter ( the slots) of these places is being offered ( PA, DEl. NY, Conn.) nearby and they'll now have to really compete. Most aren't up to it.
I think its a bit to early too count the casinos out of the game. But, they do have some catching up to do. Letting AC rot around them as well as driving all the small Mom & Pop restaurants, bars etc. out of business for the most part is another huge mistake they'll come to regret.
What do the casino's care. If they make money in NJ, PA or USSR. They don't care about AC. If AC can't promote itself then it will go back to the 70's. The casinos will be empty shells in this shell game.
But when they blow them up it is always fun to watch
I agree they don't care. Thats the danger of inviting Carpetbagger Corps. into your community. When the easy $$ is gone and they've sucked you dry they move on to the next place and just repeat the cycle.
What I don't see much discussion about is the state of the African-American community, if that's what you can call it, in A.C. The level of violence, the lack of a work ethic, no desire to gain a higher education, the dependence on public hand-outs, etc.. can not be tolerated in a beach resort. All the section-8, welfare collecting folks need to be relocated to Pleasantville. All the violent thugs, drug dealers, etc... need to be eliminated. The front page of the Press says it all. Get rid of these people and A.C. will blossom.
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