Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Tourist-dependent businesses on Fremont Street face a dicey road to recovery.
Tourism-reliant businesses facing unclear recovery
Better luck next year. This one is already considered a write-off by the owner of two businesses in the Neonopolis complex on Fremont Street. Though, it didn’t look that way when 2020 began.
Ben Silvano said February was the best-ever month for his wedding chapel businesses. On Feb. 29 alone he had 110 weddings. He was planning significant remodels and expanding his photography division.
“Then March began and the world ends,” said Silvano, who also owns a third chapel at Westgate Las Vegas. It was his worst month ever.
He’s expecting to lose roughly 60 percent to 70 percent of typical revenue over the next three months, reducing his remodeling plans to smaller touch-ups. Like many other businesses on Fremont Street, his tourist-heavy customer base
has dried up because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourists looking to get hitched make up 98 percent of his customers, he said. It may be a while before they come back.
“I’ve seen many posts from casinos about the measures they intend to implement to keep customers safe,” said Dublin-based Ellie Sutton, who has visited Las Vegas at least once a year for the last 12 years. “While I commend them, I fear it will take away what was always so great about Vegas — the carefree atmosphere.”
Others, like Milwaukee resident Mike O’Neil, said they will be back in just a few months.
“Fremont will come back strong,” said O’Neil, who has a trip to Las Vegas booked for mid-November. “It is iconic, and the people-watching is spectacular.”
A University of Florida survey conducted in mid-April showed roughly 37 percent said they don’t want to rebook canceled trips until two to six months after the virus is contained. Only 6 percent would be comfortable rebooking within a week after the virus is contained.
In the meantime, Fremont’s business owners are stuck in limbo. These days Silvano just hopes to survive until the 2021 wedding season starts in February or March.
He’s struggling to acquire government aid intended for small businesses during the pandemic. Without it, he is concerned his businesses will go belly up.
“I haven’t seen a penny from any of those plans, and I’ve applied for all of them,” Silvano said earlier this month.
Some businesses like restaurants, retail shops and salons have been allowed to reopen under Gov. Steve Sisolak’s Phase One directive. But reopening doesn’t necessarily mean the customers will come, cautions Stephen Miller, the director of UNLV’s Center of Business and Economic Research.
Tourists, like those from Californian who travel by car, may be the first to come back, he said. Business owners must be able to convince the public that their establishments are secure, safe and sanitary to again welcome customers.
Miller expects Fremont’s economic recovery to be slow. What that recovery looks like, however, is a different story.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Miller said.
Carlos “Big Daddy” Adley recognizes it may be awhile before patrons feel comfortable filling his Fremont venues, the Fremont Country Club and Backstage Bar & Billiards. It’s the reality he and other businesses owners must face for the time being, he said.
Adley laid off roughly 70 employees among all of his businesses, about 20 of those from Las Vegas, he said. He said he plans to rehire those employees when he can reopen.
“I’m losing tens of thousands of dollars a day, I don’t care,” Adley said. “If it means saving one extra person, I’ll stay closed as long as it takes.”
Johnny Jimenez Jr. estimated 60 percent of his customers at Toy Shack are tourists, and is bracing for an extended revenue hit. Jimenez is doing curbside business while the Fremont Street Experience remains closed.
When he can reopen his doors, Jimenez hopes the business can provide some happiness for whichever customer walks in his door.
“I think people need that right now,” Jimenez said.
Meanwhile, Adley plans to keep the Fremont Street party going while he and other business owners wait for visitors to return.
Adley is launching an online entertainment network he is calling “kind of an MTV for the big kids,” triplebtv.vegas.
He expects it to feature footage of previous shows at the venues, live shows, a comedy hour and documentaries. The streams will be available on Facebook and YouTube, with expansion planned for other online channels.
People come to Las Vegas to forget their problems and find entertainment, Adley said. Fremont Street might as well stay entertaining.
“Live music keeps music alive,” he said.