Two huge casinos are a win-win for Fertitta
His company also advancing with its restaurant segment
WITH the opening of two huge casinos serving as bookends on the year, 2014 was a big one for Landry’s. But owner Tilman Fertitta said those casinos in Mississippi and Louisiana will have an even more significant effect on the bottom line in 2015.
“The expectations are great,” Fertitta said of the Golden Nugget Biloxi and the Golden Nugget Lake Charles Casino Resort and Hotel. “Lake Charles is a win, Biloxi is a win. We expect to see a huge revenue jump in 2015.”
Landry’s-owned Golden Nugget Biloxi held its grand opening last spring after a $100 million conversion from the Isle of Capri Casino, and the $700 million built-fromscratch Lake Charles Golden Nugget made its debut in December.
Although his glitzy casinos attracted most of the spotlight, Fertitta said the Houston-based national restaurant, hospitality, gaming and entertain- ment company also made big strides in its restaurant segment last year. He opened 16 restaurants, including four Saltgrass Steak Houses and new Mastro’s Restaurants — a chain he bought in 2013 — in New York and Malibu, Calif. The Lake Charles casino itself has eight restaurants.
Year-over-year samestore sales for restaurants already open already performed well, Fertitta said of the key metric.
“What’s going on in the energy industry doesn’t seem to be hurting us much,” he said, referring to the oil price slump.
While much of Landry’s restaurant growth last year was internal — spurred by Mastro’s, Saltgrass and Morton’s Steakhouse openings — Landry’s did close on the acquisition of Mitchell’s Fish Market, Mitchell’s Steakhouse and Cameron’s Steakhouse from Ruth’s Hospitality Group in November.
Including those locations, Landry’s logged revenue of $3 billion last year, an increase from $2.8 billion in 2013. The company, which has 60,000 employees, 10,750 in the Houston area, came in at No. 4 on the Chronicle list of top private companies, up from No. 7 last year.
Fertitta said he expects the Mastro’s brand to be a shining star in the company’s growing restaurant portfolio.
Mastro’s will make its Texas debut very close to home for Landry’s as part of The Post Oak, a mixeduse project next door to Landry’s headquarters on the West Loop.