but on the weekends , Fridays and Saturday nights , we put a country band out there or a different type of entertainment format . So it ’ s really seven days a week , and it ’ s been a smash hit — one of the surprises in the property .”
The food-and-beverage at Durango also signals a shift in the Station strategy .
“ What we ’ re finding is that the more we lean into non-gaming amenities , Las Vegas is growing up as a city ,” Kreeger says . “ We all used to go to the Strip when we went out to eat . But now the restaurant scene in the suburbs is quite dynamic . And we think we ’ re driving some of that . It used to be that you ran your own restaurants as a locals casino company . And then it used to be that you tried to convince restaurants to come out to your locations to operate .
“ Now it ’ s become so successful and so popular that we ’ re talking to the country ’ s best restaurateurs . And Durango ’ s a testament to that . James Beard Award-winning chefs , restaurant companies that have over 150 units across the country , are all interested in coming to our new developments . So for us , that means they ’ re doing food better than we ever could . And the customers agree .”
Customer-Centric
As a company focused on solely Las Vegas locals , Station knows its customers like a book , and the success of Durango has proven that yet again . But Kreeger says that knowledge started many years ago .
“ It starts from 47 years of being in the business ,” he explains . “ And it starts with Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta ’ s father creating the first off-Strip locals casino ; the brothers worked in the business and grew up in the business . We have all been with Station Casinos for quite some time .
“ We ’ re locals serving locals , so we live in these communities that we service . That goes a long way . It ’ s 47 years of interacting with your customers , listening to your team members and what they think is the right thing to do , and then just learning from property to property . We ’ re really a development company . A lot of gaming companies grow through acquisition , but we have a growth pipeline that is bricks-and-mortar development .” Then the design side takes over . “ I can ’ t take a lot of credit for this because it starts with a founder ’ s mentality ,” Kreeger says . “ It starts with Frank and Lorenzo and their passion for design — an absolute passion . Secondly , we have a gentleman on our staff who ’ s a dear friend , and I ’ ve worked in the business with for 25 plus years , Albie
Durango Casino Resort sportsbook
Colotto , our director of design . Literally two days a week are dedicated purely to design and development within the company . We sit across the table from each other , we lay out plans , we go over every aspect of what we do . The design eye really comes from Frank and Lorenzo .”
Kreeger says much of the reason for customer loyalty to Station is because they have a dedicated employee base where team members are compensated at a high level .
“ About five years ago , we decided to take the company in a different direction in two ways ,” he explains . “ At that time , Las Vegas was highly promotional — it ’ s like a hamster wheel . We made a conscious decision across our whole company to get out of the free toaster business . Not entirely , because every casino has its level of promotional activity , but we felt like there were better ways to spend our money .
“ We felt like there were better ways to connect with our customer and create loyalty . We focused on our team members , because over time we know that our team members make that day-to-day connection with our customers . So happy team members that are passionate to be working for you that represent the company in good light equates to good customer relationships and customer satisfaction .
The George restaurant , bar and patio sit adjacent to the Durango sportsbook , allowing guests to experience the sports betting experience in a new way
20 Global Gaming Business APRIL 2024