How Retail On The Las Vegas Strip Appears To Buck The Dire National Trend

Recent headlines, “The slow death of the retail industry … ” and “What in the world is causing the retail meltdown of 2017?” reflect the harrowing state of the retail industry in the online shopping age. Headlines about retail on the Las Vegas Strip, however, are all about big deals such as the $1.1 billion sale of Crystals and growth. According to The New York Times, the number of store closings in the U.S. this year will be greater than in 2008, the height of the recession, even though consumer confidence is higher and unemployment is lower. But on the Strip, retail centers are opening, not closing. Specifically, Wynn Resorts is building 75,000 square feet of high-end shopping across the street from the Fashion Show mall. While one development is hardly a boom, the added space, along with the aforementioned deals, reveals a confidence about retail on the Strip not found elsewhere. One reason for the difference may be that Las Vegas is naturally ahead of the curve in one of the industry’s major trends — the shift to experiential retail. Read more at Las Vegas Sun.