Las Vegas lures Harrods

Harrods of London: Soon to grace the Las Vegas strip?

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Harrods, the famed luxury department store of the British upper classes, appears close to entering the gambling mecca of Las Vegas in its first venture in the U.S.

The gaudy tourist city in the Nevada desert is rife with rumours that casino giants MGM Mirage and Mandalay Resort Group are in talks to bring a branch of the legendary upscale retailer to the Las Vegas strip.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman declined to confirm the talks, and Mandalay President and Chief Financial Officer Glenn Schaeffer would only say that his company "had initial discussions" with the retailer owned by Mohamed al Fayed.

If talks are successful, the store would be the first U.S. branch of Harrods, based in London's fashionable Knightsbridge district and sells everything from cashmere sweaters to best bacon and tea.

Feldman confirmed that former Mirage Resorts chief Steve Wynn, whose company was bought in June by MGM Grand to form MGM Mirage, previously talked with Al Fayed about bringing a Harrods to his Belagio resort.

"Nothing came of it," said Feldman, who previously worked for Wynn at Mirage Resorts. "It wasn't the right time for Harrods, so we moved in different directions."

A source familiar with the situation said Mandalay and MGM both began new discussions more recently, probably within the last year, to see if Al Fayed was still interested in locating on the Strip.

Harrods has branch shops at various airports around the world, including Frankfurt and Singapore.

If a deal is reached with Mandalay Bay, it would put the upscale store in its proposed mega-mall on land between its Luxor and Mandalay Bay resorts, said Mandalay spokesman John Marz.

It was not immediately clear where MGM Mirage might put a Harrods if it struck an agreement.

Las Vegas's neon-lit Strip has become a magnet for upscale retail shops in recent years, following the development of such swanky venues as the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, and other upscale shops at Belagio, the Venetian and Mandalay Bay.

The newest arrival is Desert Passage, a 500,000-square-foot mega-mall that opened last month in front of the new Aladdin.

However, Desert Passage is not in the running for Harrods, said spokesman Paul Beirnes.

"Whoever gets it, it's going to be a great coup for Las Vegas because they're just truly an all-star player when it comes to retail," Beirnes said.

"As long as the new retailers and restaurateurs coming to Las Vegas are of this calibre, the whole city is really going to benefit."

Harrods announced last July that it was cutting its ties with the British royal family, saying they did not spend enough there.

It said it would pull down Queen Elizabeth and her heir Prince Charles's warrants to supply goods from its storefront at the end of the summer, and would not seek their renewal when they expire late next year.

The Queen's husband, Prince Philip, has already withdrawn his own Harrods warrant after owner Al Fayed accused him of masterminding the deaths of his son Dodi and Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

"No (Royal Household) purchases have been made since December 1997 and in these circumstances it would be totally inappropriate for Harrods to apply for the renewal of the royal warrants," Harrods said in a statement.

"Since neither the Queen nor Prince Charles have shopped in Harrods for several years, displaying the royal crest would be totally misleading and hypocritical," it added.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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