Station Slashes Meal Prices

LAS VEGAS --The signs of a locals casino buffet war are everywhere. Literally.

But the signs are wrong, locals casino bosses say.

Billboards, newspaper ads, TV and radio spots all advertise Station Casinos' recent aggressive buffet price cuts, discounts that reduced the price of a buffet dinner at most of its properties from about $10 to $6.99.

The new prices undercut the buffet prices at leading competitors' buffets, including Coast Casinos' three buffets and those at Sam's Town, the two Arizona Charlie's, Palms, Terrible's, Rampart Casino and Cannery.

Standard dinner buffet prices at those properties range between $9.99 and $11.99, between 42.9 percent and 71.5 percent more than the new Station prices.

Despite the size of the buffet price cuts and the resulting gap in prices between Station and its competitors, both sides said there's no buffet war.

Station's competitors haven't lowered their buffet prices in response to the price cuts and said they have no plans to do so. They also maintained the Station discounts haven't hurt their own buffet business.

And Station executives said their 30 percent price reduction is only a temporary marketing campaign, not a long-term Station Casinos strategy.

"It's not a buffet war. It's not a paradigm shift," Station Casinos Chief Operating Officer Steve Cavallaro said Tuesday. "It's a broad-based marketing program. Everybody eats. We have the best buffets at the best prices."

Station executives compared the lowered buffet prices and the intensive advertising blitz to past company campaigns.

Like the "passports" of coupons the company periodically sends to customers, most recently last fall, this year's buffet price cuts are an expensive marketing vehicle, one that Station execs expect to bring in a lot of new customers.

"Remember, there are 8,000 people that move to Las Vegas every month," Station Chief Financial Officer Glenn Christenson said, adding that the buffet price cuts are intended to bring some of those people into a Station property.

It's new Las Vegans rather than competitors' loyal customers Station is trying to attract, the company officials said.

Palms owner George Maloof, whose regular dinner buffet costs $11.99, said the Flamingo Road property has yet to feel the impact of the Station price cuts despite the proximity of Palace Station.

"We've been pretty isolated from that," Maloof said. "We haven't felt an effect."

Maloof said he understands the reasons behind Station's price cuts.

"It gets more traffic in the door," Maloof said. "The buffet really supports the local slot floor. That's why they would do that. They'll do more covers."

The price cuts weren't accompanied by a cut in the expense of the buffets, Cavallaro maintained.

He said Station food and beverage bosses standardized the food at the buffets, improving the quality of the offerings.

"We've cut prices and raised our product," Cavallaro said.

Although Station executives said they haven't cut buffet quality to compensate for the lower prices -- and the corresponding lower number of slot club points it costs to eat a comped meal -- Maloof said other casinos that aggressively discount their buffets often cut costs as well.

"Do more carbs, less meats, less fish," Maloof explained, adding that the Palms' buffet costs are "astronomical."

But Maloof said the added buffet foot traffic can also be a negative. The lines are longer, potentially inconveniencing customers who would have been happy to wait in a shorter line at the original price.

Aggressive buffet discounting also can attract customers who are less likely to contribute much to the slot handle, Maloof noted.

Sam's Town also hasn't been hurt by the Station price cuts, despite the proximity of Boulder Station, Boyd Gaming spokesman Rob Stillwell said.

"Our buffet business has been really good," Stillwell said. "We haven't noticed a difference from their price change."

Sam's Town's regular buffet dinner costs $9.99.

Bill Paulos, one of the owners of the Cannery in North Las Vegas and of the company that operates the Rampart in Summerlin, said his two buffets haven't seen business drop off since Station cut its prices.

Both of Paulos' buffets charge $10.99 for dinner. He said he has no plans to lower the prices to match Station, and questioned whether the aggressive cost cuts would generate much new casino business.

"We've done study after study on our buffets, on cutting prices, half price-offers, two-for-one deals and the like," Paulos said. "What we've found is that foot traffic doesn't necessarily equate to slot business."