New Ferrari Store/Dealer in LV | FerrariChat

New Ferrari Store/Dealer in LV

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by Theo, Nov 10, 2003.

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  1. Theo

    Theo Formula Junior

    May 6, 2002
    359
    Westford, MA
    Full Name:
    Theo Pappas
    Story from www.Bloomberg.com today:

    Wynn and Penske Join to Make Ferraris an Amusement: Doron Levin
    Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- For those who compare shopping for a car to an afternoon in the dentist's chair, it might seem absurd that a new-car dealership could be regarded as a tourist attraction.

    Tourism, however, is the impetus behind a new Ferrari/Maserati dealership slated to open in the lobby of Wynn Resorts Ltd.'s new $2.4 billion, 2,700-room casino hotel, now under construction in Las Vegas.

    Visitors will be able to look at, but probably not touch, a half dozen or more new Ferraris and Maseratis on display, free of charge. They'll be able to buy Ferrari-branded merchandise at a store or have a meal at the Ferrari cafe.

    Italian automaker Fiat SpA owns 66 percent of Ferrari, and Mediobanca SpA owns the rest. Fiat has been selling Maseratis through Ferrari dealerships since 1997. Ferrari estimates it will sell about 1,200 automobiles in the U.S. this year, up from 1,100 last year; dealers should sell about 950 Maseratis, up from 853 last year.

    With only 29 U.S. dealerships and about 18,000 Ferraris registered out of 212.4 million vehicles on U.S. roads, most Americans -- even if they've heard of the exotic Italian sports car -- probably have never seen one.

    More Than $50,000 Needed

    Steve Wynn, Wynn Resorts chief executive officer, owns a black $650,000 Ferrari Enzo displayed in the lobby near his office. Only about 100 Enzos -- named after the company's late founder, Enzo Ferrari -- will be imported to the U.S. this year.

    Just $650,000 doesn't buy an Enzo: ``We're selling these only to select clients, mainly the ones who already own several Ferraris, as a way of saying thank you,'' said Jack Clark, a Ferrari spokesman.

    The new dealership is scheduled to open when the resort does in the spring of 2005. It's a 50-50 joint venture with United Auto Group Inc., a retail chain whose chief executive is Roger Penske, the race team owner and automotive entrepreneur.

    UAG owns a second U.S. Ferrari dealership in Scottsdale, Arizona, while Penske owns two in the U.K.

    Wynn is one of the visionaries who imagined Las Vegas as a Disney World for adults and even families, not just a den of sin. He has a storied reputation as developer and casino operator with a fertile imagination for unusual entertainment.

    He hired Siegfried and Roy and their white tigers, as well as the acrobatic troupe, Cirque du Soleil. He also was the first to buy high-priced Picassos, French impressionist and other paintings to amuse high rollers when he was chairman of Mirage Resorts.

    Outdoing Bellagio

    Marc Schorr, chief operating officer of Wynn Resorts, said only about 40 percent of the new casino hotel's revenue will come from gaming, the rest from restaurants, catering shops, meetings and room rentals. A decade ago, the hotel would have provided about 70 percent of revenue.

    MGM Mirage Inc. acquired Mirage Resorts three years ago. Wynn, however, decided to make a comeback with a hotel ``that's even more upscale than Bellagio,'' said Schorr. (For a while the new hotel was to be named Le Reve -- until France began thumbing its nose at U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.)

    Wynn Resorts also is planning a casino in Macau, provided the former Portuguese colony speeds gambling-rule reforms that would allow casinos to give credit to gamblers.

    Since the initial public offering of Wynn Resorts at $13 a share just more than a year ago, the price has risen to a peak of $22.90 in late October. Shares have fallen back to about $20 a share, a gain overall of about 50 percent.

    MGM Mirage stock over the last year is up 18.2 percent, slightly underperforming the Russell 1000 stock index.

    The Free Fountains

    Bellagio, built at a cost of $1.6 billion and now owned by MGM Mirage, is regarded as Las Vegas's fanciest hotel. Its signature pieces of entertainment, also Wynn creations, are musical fountains that rise from an 8.5-acre man-made lake.

    The hitch with Bellagio's fountains, says Schorr, is that spectators outside the property can see them free without having to go inside the hotel to eat, gamble or have a drink.

    The new Wynn Resorts will have a lake as well, Schorr said, ``but this one isn't going to be visible from the street. If you want to see it you'll have to come in and sit down at one of our restaurants.''

    That's when tourists -- or perhaps a ``whale,'' as ultra- high-rolling gamblers are nicknamed -- will get a chance to stroll through the lobby and examine a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, a new four-seat coupe that will be introduced at the North American International Auto Show this January in Detroit.

    Those Ferrari owners who decide to drive to Las Vegas can have their vehicles serviced at the hotel, where attendants will whisk them to an underground service area.

    For the time being, the 125 or so Las Vegas residents who own Ferraris must drive -- or ship them -- to Scottsdale or Los Angeles for service.
     
  2. MarkG

    MarkG Formula Junior

    Nov 3, 2003
    369
    Colorado Springs
    Full Name:
    Mark
    So its official! Time to update my resume, see if my many years of Foreign Auto parts sales can get in the door before Patel takes my current job!!
     
  3. Jim Converse

    Jim Converse Rookie

    Dec 6, 2003
    10
    Camarillo, Ca.
    Full Name:
    550Jim
    Wandered into the Wynn-Penske Ferrari store during at a stay at the Wynn this past week, I was greeted with a 10 minute long line to get in. After signing in, I looked the cars over and saw:
    Steve Wynn's Black Enzo
    A Red 430
    A Yellow 360 Spider
    A Black 430
    A Silver Scagliatti
    A Silver Quatroporte
    2 Maserati's
    No Maranello's (sold)
    Beautiful and grand ambience with an attached "Ferrari Store" full of the usual stuff.
    Had a chance to meet the manager, who told me, to date, they have sold 25 cars (2 are pending "financial arrangements"), he did not differentiate between new and used. "This has easily outsold our Scottsdale store", he said. Best in the nation, I enquired? "Maybe" he said. He further stated that they had to bring a mechanic over from the Scottsdale operation to do the pre-delivery work on the cars. The drift I got was that he did not have enough mechanics (as result of the high sales numbers) to do all the work necessary in a timely manner.
    I then asked about the service department and he said they were working on 6-7 stalls downstairs. I asked if I could visit it, no, not yet, he said and then only when "escorted"? I then asked if I drove over from California, could he service my car during my stay in Las Vegas? Well......you'd have to make an appointment, etc etc.
    Overall, very impressive and by the looks of the continual line to get into the store, there are a lot of folks who are probably getting their first, up close, look at a Ferrari!
     

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