Casino In Reno Closing
The Renaissance Reno (formerly Holiday Reno and Siena Reno) is a hotel and former casino in Reno, Nevada. It opened in 1956 as the Holiday, closed in 1998, and reopened as Siena in 2001. It uses the Renaissance Hotels brand under license from Marriott International.
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The MGM casino closures of 13 properties included the Bellagio and its famous fountain show in front, which often draws a crowd to watch the fountains shooting as high 460 feet (140 meters) into. FILE - In this Oct. 11, 2016, file photo, pedestrians pass beneath the Reno arch as traffic passes on Virginia Street in downtown Reno, Nev. All bars, nightclubs, restaurants and gyms will close. Many Las Vegas and Reno casinos had already closed before the governor’s demands, including MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts. But some casinos and poker rooms, including Caesars Entertainment-owned.
COVID-19 makes business financially unviable
The birthplace of the Silver State’s iconic Awful Awful burger, the Nugget Casino and Diner in downtown Reno, will permanently close on July 30, with owner Rick Heaney saying that it was “economically impossible” to remain open.
Little Nugget cannot survive through the winter months”
“The worldwide COVID-19 virus pandemic […] caused all non-restricted gaming to close in the state of Nevada. The venues then briefly reopened, only to see bars inside the casino close again. That has made it clear that the Little Nugget cannot survive through the winter months,” Heaney told Reno TV station KRNV.
Heaney also told KRNV that cancellation of special events in The Biggest Little City in the World made it “impractical” for the business to continue.
Emotions running high
In a report on KOLO-TV, a dual ABC/CW+-affiliated Reno television station, Little Nugget customers expressed sadness over the closure news.
“It’s a place where everyone likes to come […] it’s going to be missed in the community,” said James McCray. Fellow Little Nugget customer Julio Rosales spoke of people coming out in support of the establishment, saying:
It just shows how much this place has influenced everybody and […] how much they actually care.”
Nevada has been hard hit by the pandemic, with it being declared a “red zone” last week after over 100 visitors tested positive. In a poignant statement flighted on KOLO-TV, proprietor Heaney said Little Nugget had “tried so hard to continue to be a long-standing tradition of locals and visitors […] but sadly, our last chapter has come to an end.”
Nevada’s burger king
The Little Nugget is synonymous with the Awful Awful burger, which earned its name by virtue of being “awful big and awful good,” according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. The burger is a well-known brand. Heaney is on record as saying, “We’ve been on the Travel Channel, and we’ve had articles from the New York Times to the Sacramento Bee.”
Weighing a half pound accompanied by approximately one pound of fries or onion rings the Awful Awful burger, served on a toasted bun in a basket, features a secret sauce that Heaney told the Reno Gazette-Journal he holds “pretty close to the vest.”
While the Reno Gazette-Journal reports the Little Nugget will close to customers at 5 am on July 30, it also quotes Heaney saying he would ask Nevada gaming officials for permission to keep his non-restricted gaming license active. “It’s sad, this is the last time they’re going to get an Awful Awful,” said Rosales.
RENO — Citing mounting financial losses, owners of the Sundowner Hotel Casino in downtown Reno have announced plans to close Dec. 1.
It’s only the latest in a string of casino closures in a city facing increased competition from Las Vegas megaresorts and tribal casinos in California.
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“I would suggest there will be several more (casino closures) in the next several years, and probably the market needs that, given the changes that are occurring,” gambling analyst Dennis Conrad told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
The Sundowner closure affects 300 full-time and 75 part-time employees, who learned about it in a letter from co-owner George Karadanis.
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“(The casino) cannot continue to operate in the gaming industry climate as it currently exists … I wish it could be otherwise, but the (casino) can no longer sustain the economic losses we have incurred and continue to incur,” Karadanis wrote.
The resort, which opened in 1975, has been for sale for several years.
Employees, who also were notified that their health insurance will cease on Oct. 17, said they expected the closure.
“There have been so many back-and-forth rumors. But no Christmas bonus last year said a lot,” dealer Cindy Sutterfield said while standing behind an empty craps table Thursday.
Rob Whittey, the Sundowner’s chief financial officer, said the casino had struggled since the giant Silver Legacy Resort Casino opened in 1995. There are no plans for the Sundowner building, he added.
“Unfortunately, we are in the position of another building that is going to go dark,” he said. “We really had a great ride in Reno. But the face of gaming has changed.”
Other downtown casinos closing in recent years have included the Flamingo Reno, Comstock, Pioneer and the Riverboat. The Flamingo Reno later reopened as the Golden Phoenix Hotel Casino.
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Other downtown casinos, including Harold’s Club, the Mapes and Riverside, earlier closed.
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Washoe County casinos’ gross revenues fell 5.6 percent in July, the first full month of operation for the Thunder Valley Casino outside Sacramento.
Analysts say it shows the casino, with 1,906 slot machines and 100 card tables, and others in northern California are diverting business from Nevada.
That trend will only accelerate this winter when gamblers no longer have to brave snowy Sierra passes to gamble, they said.