STATESIDE STATESIDE Stateside
Saks’ fl agship store on Fifth Avenue wants to combine fashion with gaming by operating a high-end casino on their upper fl oors. Sharon Harris looks at the validity of such propositions.
Gambling for the masses I
have spent my entire life in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. When English entrepreneur William Penn and the Quakers founded Pennsylvania in 1682, they instituted Sunday regulations that endured for centuries. Those “Blue Laws” of my childhood
closed most businesses so people could “rest and reflect” at home. Sundays were boring. Life changed in the 1970s when numerous laws were revised
or eliminated. However, remnants of that antiquated system remain. You still cannot buy a car on Sunday in Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Pennsylvania and six other states still own the liquor stores. In 2016, Pennsylvania relaxed several liquor laws categories and allowed casinos to sell alcohol 24/7. However, these counterproductive state-controlled systems
sacrifi ce sales and taxes as millions in neighboring states regularly cross borders to buy cheaper alcohol. Where I live, New Jersey law allows food and alcohol sales at licensed liquor stores. I now spend my winters in Florida, where most supermarkets and pharmacies have successfully blended everyday products with liquor. Aisles are fi lled with alcoholic choices. Can other businesses mix unrelated products successfully?
In New York City, Saks Fifth Avenue’s East Side fl agship store on Fifth Avenue wants to try. They hope to combine their fashion expertise with gaming by operating a high-end casino on their upper three fl oors. Once New York State announced three potential downstate Las
8 APRIL 2023
Wynn called Las Vegas a “target rich” environment in November 2015 and recruited top law enforcement and military
I
Vegas-style casino licenses in metro New York City last year, the fascinating race was on. Toronto-based HBC owns Saks and Executive Chairman/Chief
Executive Richard Baker aims to recreate a sophisticated Monte Carlo-style model within 12 months. Design renderings show a casino above the ninth fl oor, accessible via a dedicated red- carpet entrance that extends onto the sidewalk. Multiple chandeliers and plush carpeting would adorn a large lobby. Baker said a high-end casino would “attract an affl uent
global tourist and not prey on people who shouldn’t be in casinos… Why should Manhattan have another slobby casino… We need spectacular.”
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