Las Vegas Sands

Jennifer Riggins at SmartPlanet reports:

The Community of Madrid announced Wednesday that they are in “very advanced talks” to approve the building of a casino and resort complex in the north of Madrid. Negotiations are continuing with the Las Vegas Sands Corpation, owned by sixteenth richest person in the world Sheldon Adelson. He first stated back in February that he wanted to create a “mini-Vegas” in Europe and that he was concentrating his search on Spain.

Spanish Minister of Industry Miguel Sebastian dubbed the deal “not ripe yet.” If the deal does go through, Sands will invest 16.9 billion euros over the next 13 years to build a complex featuring hotels, casinos, theaters, a golf course and dozens of restaurants. Sebastian said it would create about 50,000 jobs within the complex and another 160,000 jobs throughout the process. It could be a well-needed boost for Spain’s core industry–construction. [Read More]

If you didn’t hear, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem opened for preview The Shoppes at Sands, a new luxury retail outlet center. Six retailers–Talbots, Nine West, DKNY, Lenox, Old Farmer’s Almanac General Store and Hartmann Luggage–welcomed people for the first time.

We’re excited about this development. Later this month, additional retail stores, including Ultra Diamonds, Guess and Spritz Designer Fragrances, are also slated to open. By the official Grand Opening of The Shoppes at Sands in February 2012, additional national brand retailers will be available to shoppers. In this post, you’ll find some photos of the new mall. [Read More]

VEGASINC:

This year’s induction ceremony for the Gaming Hall of Fame will have a distinctive Venetian flavor as the American Gaming Association salutes two mainstays of the Strip property Tuesday night.

Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., will be joined by one of the resort’s entertainment icons, Blue Man Group, in a ceremony and charity dinner benefiting the National Center for Responsible Gaming at the Venetian….

The inductions will bring the total membership of the Hall of Fame to 74 since the first ceremony in 1989. Each year since then, the association has honored between one and five industry leaders from the casino, entertainment and culinary worlds.

Adelson, who seems to be at the top of his game with major successes in Macau and Singapore and one of the top properties in Las Vegas, is credited with developing and exploiting the meetings and convention business at his properties. [Read More]

CNN asked Lagasse to share his secrets for entrepreneurs who are hungry for success. He offers five rules of thumb. Here’s his first one:

Create a culture of loyalty. Many of my staff have been with me for over 20 years. I have a great team, and I make sure they feel respected and appreciated. I wouldn’t ask any of my employees to do anything I wouldn’t do. And I work as hard, if not harder than the rest of the staff, to set an example. I also believe in giving my employees a lot of room to be creative and to express themselves. My chefs and general managers are responsible for their own restaurants, and they don’t have to worry about issues such as inventory, because we have a director of operations, a director of finance and other staff who handle those jobs at our Homebase. This allows our restaurant staff to concentrate on doing what it is they do best: offering our customers exceptional food and service.

Read his other success secrets at CNN.