Foxwoods Touts Luxury Outlet Mall, But Offers Few Details
MASHANTUCKET ——
Foxwoods Resort Casino celebrated its 20th anniversary Wednesday with a party, but underlying the hoopla and speeches lurked the hard reality of new competition, its own massive debt and the urgent need to transform its image.
Foxwoods hopes that a new, 85-store outlet mall with a focus on luxury brands will be the key to drawing visitors who aren't interested in gambling and will turn the resort into a destination where guests will book longer, two- or three-day stays.
Scott Butera, Foxwoods president and chief executive, told the hundreds gathered in the Fox Theater for the celebration that stepped-up competitive pressures on Foxwoods, along with the slowly recovering economy require that the resort take bold steps — the mall being a major one.
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"It's going to be a true retail destination that we've never had before," Butera said. Construction is to begin this spring.
The outlet mall is to be built between the Grand Pequot Tower and the newer MGM Grand at Foxwoods. The plans seek to capitalize on an emerging trend of casinos adding outlet stores, which have been performing better that other traditional, full-price retail coming out of the recession.
But while officials of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, joined by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other dignitaries, unveiled the ad campaign, they did not answer the question many people want to know: Which stores will be there when the mall opens?
Greenwich-based developer Sheldon Gordon said Wednesday that he expects to announce in late May which stores will be in the mall. Sheldon, who is leasing the property, has built retail centers and components at casino resorts including Mohegan Sun and the Forum Shops at Caesars in Las Vegas, as well as large outlet malls.
Gordon recently told Indian Country Today Media Network that he has "lined up most of the shops for Foxwoods."
Those leases include "outlet versions" of stores at other centers he has developed, he told Indian Country Today.
Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler said the Foxwoods outlet mall is designed to connect the original casino resort with the MGM Grand, which are now linked by a skywalk, into a "seamless experience."
The mall will be "a cross between the local outlets and the Forum Shops at Caesars," Butler told The Courant. "This will draw from Boston and New York and hopefully farther."
Foxwoods now has 28 stores at its resort, mostly high-end. Officials did not refer to the debt problems that led Foxwoods to default on $2 billion in payments in 2009, but they indicated that the ambitious expansion is a response to the need to do something to refresh and reinvent the resort.
Butler conceded in an interview with reporters after Wednesday's festivities that he was nervous about the prospects of increased competition, but "we have the right team, the right components in place" to prosper.
Other added amenities will include a gas station, convenience store and restaurant, Butler said.
The outlet-casino combination, a growing trend, has been a successful formula in other parts of the country, including Las Vegas and Atlantic City and that success has sparked new ventures.
Linda Humphers, editor-in-chief of Value Retail News, said that the outlet mall trade publication has known about Gordon's plans and the Foxwoods project for about a year.
"Sheldon Gordon knows his way around high-end retail and he has outlet mall experience as well," Humphers said.
"In the past, outlet centers were near casinos, but not part of casinos," Humphers said. "You had to drive or take a bus to the stores. The new trend is for outlet centers to be part of the casino complex itself."
The Premier Outlet Shoppes at Foxwoods would follow that concept.
"The retailers decide if they want to be part of the project," Humphers said. "Decisions are based on location, traffic and the cost of going into a particular center."
Humphers said research by Cordish Co., developer of the Atlantic City Outlets, has shown that casino-goers and outlet shoppers share a similar profile: that of a 50-plus-year-old woman of middle to upper income.
Last July, Value Retail News reported on four outlet projects planned for casino venues in North America, including The Shoppes at Sands, which opened this month near the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pa. Among the stores: Coach Factory, Talbots, Guess, Chico's, Peeps & Co., and Corningware Corelle.
The Foxwoods mall will be within 35 miles of Connecticut's two other outlet destinations, in Clinton and Westbrook, whose stores include Coach, Talbots, Guess, Chico's, and Calvin Klein.
By KENNETH R. GOSSELIN,
with me. 
lol. As much as I want to go, $449 for a Sat night ... wow. So I figured there must be a way to get a deal? So here I am, looking for any pointers or advice on a better room rate at Mohegan Sun? It would sure make our 12th anniversary special. 
i did a little investagate /private eye i sent email to thre head man askink if they see internet on the horizon 
