Casino reduces hours
December 25, 2003
Facing flat revenues and pressure from the State of Michigan, the
Leelanau Sands Casino has scaled back its operations to levels not
seen since the late 1980's.
Officials of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
this month decided to close the doors at Leelanau County's largest
business on Mondays and Tuesdays. The largest single employer in the
county, the casino is now open five days a week Wednesdays through
Sundaysinstead of seven days a week as had been the practice since
about 1989, according to Tribal officials.
"We've found that we can now capture the same revenue in five days
that we did in seven," explained Chris Bussey, interim chief
executive officer of the tribe's Economic Development Corporation.
The EDC operates Traverse Bay Entertainment, the tribe's multi-
faceted business enterprise. Bussey replaced former CEO Jeff
Livingston on an interim basis in the spring, and a search for a
permanent replacement is underway, he said.
Although local employment figures were not immediately available,
Bussey said the Leelanau Sands and other tribal enterprises in
Peshawbestown this winter were forced to "right-size in a few areas."
Normally, the number of employees at the casino on M-22 in
Peshawbestown is reduced every September in anticipation of a decline
in business over winter months. However, a few more employees
were "let go" this fall in anticipation of the new five-day-a-week
schedule, which went into effect. Dec. 1, Bussey said.
Three years ago, some 372 people were known to be employed at the
Leelanau Sands Casino. Last year, the casino pulled in more than $23
million in revenue just 26 percent of the $87 million earned by the
tribe's Turtle Creek Casino in Grand Traverse County.
Turtle Creek will remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
Bussey said. Overall, the GTB remains one of the largest employers in
the Traverse Bay region, with more than 1,200 employees, only 17
percent of whom are Tribal members.
Bussey said that 85-percent of those who patronize the Leelanau Sands
Casino are local area residents. "That's one of the reasons we
haven't seen growth there in the past couple of years," he said.
The existence of other Tribal casinos in northern Michigan as well
as new non-Tribal casinos in Detroit have increased competition for
gambling dollars in a tight economy over the past several years,
Bussey said. "But competition can be helpful;" he added, "it keeps us
all sharp."
Some of the competition is coming directly from the State of Michigan
through the state lottery's new "Club Games" program. Michigan
Lottery representatives have been marketing the new games heavily at
bars and taverns throughout northern Michigan, including Leelanau
County. The games are intended to simulate those played at casinos.
The Cedar Tavern has already installed a new "Club Keno" game. A
new "Pull Tab" game is slated to be installed early next year at the
Key to the County restaurant in Lake Leelanau.
According to a "testimonial" from one downstate tavern owner who
installed the games recently, "We used to have a group of customers
who used to meet here once per week then load into a van to spend the
evening at the nearby casino. Now they stay here to play Club Games!"
The comments were printed in a Michigan Lottery marketing brochure.
"Certainly, this is of some concern to us," said Bussey. "But our
casinos offer a very different experience from what you can get in a
barroom a total experience that you can't get from a video game. We
don't think the state's `Club Games' will have that much of an impact
on us."
What may impact Traverse Bay Entertainment more, however, is an
ongoing effort by the State of Michigan to outlaw gambling at the
Turtle Creek Casino. The state is appealing a decision made in 2002
by U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Hillman in Grand Rapids that
gambling at Turtle Creek is allowable under the federal Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act. The state's appeal of Hillman's decision is expected
to be considered by a panel of U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
judges in Cincinnati sometime next year.
A reversal of the earlier court ruling could seriously impact the
tribe's plans for the Grand Traverse Resort which it acquired in
March. Tribal officials have stated that they would like to move some
of their gambling operations from Turtle Creek to the adjacent resort
in Grand Traverse County.
The legality of Indian gambling on the Peshawbestown reservation has
not been in question, however. Bussey said he expected business to
pick up there again in the spring.
In the meantime, the Leelanau Sands new "regular" hours are
Wednesdays ("Ladies Day") from noon until midnight; Thursdays
("Seniors Day") from noon until midnight; Fridays from noon until 2
a.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m.; and Sundays ("Men's Day")
from noon until midnight.
The casino was slated to be closed yesterday and today for Christmas,
re-opening Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. On New Years Eve, a special
musical/comedy show will be presented at the Sands Showroom with the
casino open from noon until 4 a.m.
by Eric Carlson