Tilman Fertitta’s consummate marketing savvy will be in full force during the transformation process of Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget.
"I think we’re going to be able to give them as good a place as any place in Atlantic City. This is going to be a great looking property and we’re going to compete with anybody in town.”
ATLANTIC CITY — Some of the qualities that allowed Tilman Fertitta to reach the apex of the business world, and transform Landry’s Restaurants Inc. into a conglomerate worth nearly $4 billion, he seems to carry around like a set of car keys.
Ideas emanate from him when he sees the need to maximize efficiency, as evidenced during the photo shoot for this article when the backdrop moved to the newest addition — Vic & Anthony’s steakhouse — of Fertitta’s newest business acquisition — Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget. The 54-year-old Texan appeared to lash out in an effort to restore order to a situation that had become a bit chaotic. The results he sought were immediate, as was Fertitta’s disclosure that his actions were in jest, not anger.
“Believe me,” said one of the executives Fertitta kept in tow. “You’ll know when he’s not kidding.”
The Galveston-born Fertitta became principal owner and CEO of the Houston-based Landry’s in 1986, and he was instrumental in turning what began as two restaurants into more than 300 properties in 36 states. In 2005 the company acquired both Nevada Golden Nuggets (Laughlin and Las Vegas), and in May Fertitta purchased the former Trump Marina and re-branded it Golden Nugget Atlantic City.
As has become his business trademark, Fertitta is incredibly adept at buying struggling properties at bargain prices and turning them into those that thrive. Currently the only other property he owns in Atlantic City (excluding his major shares in the seafood chain McCormick & Schmick’s) is the Rainforest Café on the Boardwalk, which Landry’s bought as part of a chain in 2000 for $60 million and converted into a franchise now worth an estimated $400 million.
Fertitta’s $38 million purchase price of Trump Marina is nearly considered a steal (it almost sold for 10 times that as recently as three years ago, in a business venture that would have included musician Jimmy Buffett), but if you think Fertitta is in any way remorseful about pinching a 27-story, 728-room casino hotel on 14 acres of waterfront property from probably the most famous name in A.C.’s gaming history, forget it.
“We bought it for $38 million but it was losing $15 million a year, so if I said to any of these guys ‘I’ll give you this casino [free] even though it’s losing $15 million a year’, do you think they’d take it?” Fertitta asks Atlantic City Weekly. “Everything is relative. When you’re losing your ass, it’s not worth very much.”
Upgrades to the building’s interior in just three months of Landry’s ownership are stunning, particularly the addition of the Chart House seafood restaurant (above The Deck at Farley State Marina, at what had been the Harborview), and Vic & Anthony’s, which just debuted Aug. 11. Vic & Anthony’s is on the gaming level at what had been DJ’s Steakhouse, and is named after Fertitta’s relatives (including his father, Vic).
“There are actually two Vic and Anthonys,” says Fertitta. “The first two were the nephews of the Maceo brothers [Sam and Rosario], who used to run the Balinese Room, which was the big gaming room in Galveston in the ’40s and ’50s. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and all the big names used to play there. Galveston used to be, before Vegas, the big place where everybody used to come to gamble, and then gambling was shut down there the year I was born, 1957.”
For those wondering if Fertitta’s main motive is to make a quick profit by flipping a piece of prime real estate, he is quick to assert otherwise. He declined to mention how much additional capital he plans to invest in the property, but published reports put it in the range of $150 million.
“I’m not a seller, OK? I’m a buyer, not a seller,” he says, with an unmistakable Texas inflection to his voice. “I’m going to die owning this property. I love this property and we don’t plan to cut corners when it comes to revitalizing it. In fact, we’d like to build another tower eventually.
“We operate very entrepreneurially,” he adds. “We understand customer service the old way, and that’s the business I’m in — the customer service business and the hospitality business. I think we’re going to be able to give them as good a place as any place in Atlantic City. This is going to be a great looking property and we’re going to compete with anybody in town.”
It is not merely upgrades to existing gaming space or dining establishments that Fertitta has in mind for Golden Nugget either. New amenities that Trump Marina never had will include a poker room, keno and racing rooms, and recently completed high-roller suites that, in some cases, involved turning two smaller suites into one immense one.
“The suites are as nice as any you’ll see in town,” Fertitta asserts. “And these are standard suites. Anybody who checks into a suite is going to get that same quality.”
Well known for his philanthropy (he’s the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Houston Children’s Charities), Fertitta says he intends to uphold his humanitarian reputation now that he’s a fixture in Atlantic City.
Pending approval by New Jersey casino regulators, the Meruelo Group of Downey, California, will purchase Trump Plaza for $20 million, and plans to close the deal by the end of May.
It may be winter, but Golden Nugget has put together an impressive entertainment slate, including a live-band bonanza on Feb. 17.
If there is any one quality that defines great cooking, it just might be courage. Restaurateurs are largely by nature risk-takers, willing to push and prod their enterprises forward.
From the city's 150th birthday celebration, casino changes and evolution within Atlantic City and, casino shows, then and now.
Summer is the prime season for hosting festivals and the Golden Nugget is taking part in the tradition with a trio of indoor/outdoor festivals in August and September.
Any notion that the Golden Nugget intended to sit back in the shadows and allow Revel to bask in the limelight alone is one that will be thoroughly dispelled this weekend.
Golden Nugget encouraged its guests, through a variety of construction-related promotions, to be part of the sweeping makeover that actually began a few weeks before the casino’s parent company, hospitality industry giant Landry’s Inc., purchased the former Trump Marina for $38 million.
Ever since Tilman Fertitta, CEO of Landry’s Inc., took over the former Trump Marina last May and brought back the Golden Nugget brand to Atlantic City, the casino’s slogan has been, “Watch the Transformation.” Now the transformation is complete, and the Golden Nugget is throwing a four-day party April 26-29 to celebrate with its official Grand Opening Kick-Off Weekend.
'It’s one of several themed events we have planned throughout the hotel and throughout the year, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. Seven Stone just did such a phenomenal job when they were here last [on Jan. 21 for the LIVE Bar re-branding party] that we had to bring them back.”'
... the warm shell clung to its ingredients like a miniskirt on Scarlett Johansson — taut, sexy and seductive.
Here, in no particular order are 11 AC Weekly feature stories we are proud of from 2011.
Transformation — It's a buzz word that only refers to the overall vision of Landry's Inc., the parent company of Golden Nugget, but also ties in nicely with the major shifts taking shape in Atlantic City as a whole.
It’s not that comedian Kathleen Madigan isn’t grateful for the gig when she christens the new Showroom at the Golden Nugget on Saturday.
Cooked with just as much skill, the dense meat was left mid-rare at its center. This is smart. Swordfish, being inherently quite lean, doesn’t take well to overcooking. The cut was thick, pure in flavor and not aggressively seasoned.
Golden Nugget may be new in town … er, make that new BACK in town, but the acclaimed casino brand name knows that the fall is no time to slow down when it comes to fun at the shore.
Fakefest is happening Friday through Sunday, July 8-10, at The Deck at Golden Nugget (at A.C.’s Farley State Marina). As has been the trend from year to year, all the bands playing Fakefest — and paying tribute to the classic rockers of yesteryear — are top-shelf.
There’s a new player in Atlantic City as the Golden Nugget officially took over operations of the former Trump Marina Tuesday, promising a $100 to $150 million renovation of the aging, and frankly, somewhat boring casino.
In what they hope will be a sweetheart deal announced on Valentine Day yesterday, Tilman J. Fertitta, Chairman, President, CEO and owner of Landry’s, Inc., parent company to the Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Laughlin, announced that Landry’s has agreed to buy the Trump Marina Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
A one-off U.S. concert, Wood's first-ever solo show in the United States, smoked from start to finish Saturday night in Atlantic City.
Atlantic City’s nightclub scene continues to thrive as a major component of the city’s catchphrase “DO AC.” Now Tilman Fertitta, owner and CEO of Landry’s Inc., is making his play for a bigger cut of the late night action, announcing a big name guest host for the opening weekend for his latest venture at the Golden Nugget, Haven Nightclub.
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Different Crickets
1. Tim Sullivan said... on Aug 18, 2011 at 10:08AM
“Mr Fertitta, I am still awaiting your response from a letter I sent you dated 2/9/11! I love what you are doing that the GN, but good customer service should be exemplified at the top! Anyway, best of luck.”
2. Tony Santini said... on Aug 23, 2011 at 08:35AM
“Mr. Fertitta,
We took advantage of the special, "Watch out Transformation" offers that the Golden Nugget posted in the Spring and we are glad that we did. Each time that my wife and I come down to the GN, we notice something new and in the spirit of offering the customer something better. We love the Chart House and have also taken advantage of joing the Landry's Frequent Diner Club to further extend our benefits at the GN. The best complement that I can give though is what I heard from our server during a recent Chart House visit. He said, "Mr.Fertitta walsk around here like a regular guy, You'd never know that he is the owner until the next day when you see improvements being made in the area he walked by because he didn't like what he saw there the day before." Nice!
Tony Santini
New 24K Gold Club Member”