MontBleu’s parent company reports $2.7 mil. quarterly loss
By Steve Green, Las Vegas Sun
Casino operator Tropicana Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas reported a second quarter loss Tuesday as business deteriorated at its properties in Atlantic City and Nevada.
The company, controlled by investor Carl Icahn, said it lost $2.7 million vs. a loss of $1.6 million in the year-ago quarter.
Net revenue of $145 million was down from $164 million.
Tropicana has two hotel-casinos in Laughlin in Southern Nevada and one, the River Palms, has seen business decline due to road construction on the main casino strip there.
Tropicana said that citywide, Laughlin casino revenue fell 7.3 percent in the quarter vs. 2010’s second quarter because of the construction, “continuing poor economic conditions and reduced consumer discretionary spending.’’
The company’s property in Stateline, the MontBleu Casino Resort & Spa, has similarly been hurt by the slow economy.
Overall, the Nevada properties generated net revenue of $29.3 million, down 6.6 percent.
The deterioration of their business is no surprise! How a smart investor like Carl Icahn has been snowed by their management at the their Tahoe property, Montbleu, is a mystery me? The purpose of a casino is for gaming! Their obsession is with thinking they’re some cool night club!
Well one of their night clubs, Blu, totally failed! They’re other spot, Opal, is only busy when ladies can drink free, or there’s $1 drinks. Meanwhile, even when they have a busy show in their showroom, such as Snoop Dog, it’s filled with non-gamers! Their mgt. wishes they were in SF or LA, but they don’t understand that they’re in the NV side of Tahoe.
The Tropicana portfolio will continue to deteriorate until someone gives their casinos the proper focus!
Totally agreed Parker. Anyone with a marketing sense knows you must have a unified marketing plan from all areas of a business. You want to market the gaming side to a 35-62 client, food to a family and entertainment to the 21-30 year old…just doesn’t work. That was their problem even before Ichan bought Trop and MontBleu was run by the same parent at Horizon.
They have good employees and could turn it around…with a unified focus from top to bottom. Pick your target market, stick to it (one with income to gamble with of course), and let the consumer know who you want by offering entertainment, events and atmosphere (including clubs) that they want to enjoy.
Who is running the Horizon?
This story talks about the split in ownership between MontBleu and Horizon: https://www.laketahoenews.net/2009/10/horizon-owner-granted-gaming-license/.
Kathryn Reed, LTN publisher
Thanks Kae
So an ex Tropicana executive is running it, under the name: LV Casino LLC.
I thought all this time Tropicana was still running both, and was puzzled about how badly the Horizon was being run.
I totally missed the change from October 2009.
care: the bankruptcy courts gave Horizon back to Columbia Sussex with a lot of “rules”, one of which limited their ability to have gaming operations. They cannot bring back table games and can’t add more slot machines, but the courts also said they have to keep open. All that will change when Edgewood takes it back, I think in 2012.
The Horizon is trying..donates banquet room use to local non-profits, supports local activities, hosts family things for the holidays, etc.