Michael A. Langley

If I was to go to our Tribal Members with a sure-fire business opportunity, an opportunity supported by documentation, facts, and figures that would make us $5,000,000 I am certain the response would be, “Awesome! That sounds great.” Or perhaps if we were not promptly moving along with the opportunity we would hear from our members, “Why are we holding back and not plunging right in?”

Recently, our Casino Executive Team at Spirit Mountain Casino proposed such an opportunity. However, they recognized what they were proposing would also elicit an emotional response from the community. Their concern was that the Spirit Mountain Casino Board would not be independent enough to let economics and business decisions win the day instead of worry about potential political fallout that Tribal Council might feel. Their worries were based on previous experience, not current practices.

Yet, it is also true that our casino buffet has become more than a place to dine. It has become a gathering place; a place for our tribal families and extended families to meet and visit. I love Monday Night Elder’s buffet. If one took the time, history lessons were available via the time machines our elders can be. We could even watch and see for ourselves which kids had grown over the years.  Monday night buffet allowed a time for us to connect and re-connect. Family time.

However, here are some sobering statistics and trends about our casino and buffet.

We lose almost $5,000,000 per year on the buffet. For those wondering, that is the equivalent of a $900 per cap payment. In fact, recent analysis indicates that we would have to charge $60 per head to merely break even. No wonder folks loved our buffet. Where else could one get such a bargain? In this post COVID world our employee costs would only increase as it would require someone to serve the food cafeteria style instead of self-serve.

One of the arguments I hear often is that the buffet is a loss leader. The idea being we will make up whatever losses we have through increased gambling. Food and Beverage as a loss leader is a leftover strategy from when there was a scatter-gun approach to marketing and getting people into the doors when food and drink costs were not as high. It is not an approach in Las Vegas any longer. In fact, only eight Las Vegas casinos are reopening buffets and they are charging pricing in the $60 range. If one has travelled there in the last several years, the higher prices on food and beverages are everywhere. It is not cheap to visit and dine in Las Vegas. The main reason for these moves is because the scatter-gun approach was before the industry had tools in place to measure marketing efforts. As player’s clubs and their club cards were developed a clearer picture emerged. Here is what was learned from our own metrics.

The top 200 VIP players were surveyed and feedback resulted in little desire to eat in a buffet. Instead, they requested options that include fresh mex, Pho, and stir-fry food options. None of these are currently available anywhere in the casino. In fact, among the top 200 players, the buffet had the lowest comp dollars redeemed. The analysis of the Players Club data also indicated that any perceived increase of gaming dollars due to trips made for our buffet were not seen in the data. If you doubt this information, I point you to the Spirit Mountain Casino Facebook page buffet closure announcement and all the comments therein. Hundreds of people said we lost business from them because they only came for our buffet – they do not even gamble. We will never make up that $5,000,000. Not even close.

This was not the only considerations being presented to us. For many years, but even double the problem lately due to COVID, attracting and retaining employees has been a challenge. Recently, we have had such an acute shortage of employees that venues were forced into unplanned closures. When venues are open, the kitchens are still understaffed and cannot keep up with the guests. Guests are seeing long lines and empty chairs because we cannot serve and clear tables and people fast enough. Many walk away instead. This whack-a-mole approach, as described by our interim General Manager Bruce Thomas, needed to be changed. We needed a comprehensive strategy to get us out of this. He tasked the Casino Executive Team to come up with one. Here is their plan.

All 101 Buffet employees will be reassigned to other food venues and fill the vacant positions within the department. By doing this, the Summit restaurant will be able to open for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. and serve all three meal periods seven days a week. Mountain View Sports Bar will also offer a breakfast menu at 8:00 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Legends will open daily for dinner unless there is a need to open for additional meal periods to accommodate guests.

Additionally, since closer to being fully staffed, time off requests will be easier to accommodate and reduce the fatigue of our remaining dedicated employees that have worked through this challenging time. Remember, they have been working while masked for a year now while facing unruly guests due to mask requirements and short staffs. Our recent success has been on the backs of these employees each trying to do the job of two. Food & Beverage has seen a 70% or more turnover rate. Hard to promote consistency in service and presentation with those numbers.

The Buffet employees will be reassigned or transferred based on tribal preference first and then seniority. Human Resources will assist employees with other department reassignments if the new assignment creates a hardship on the employee or the employee has a desire to move to a new position within the casino. Flexibility will be allowed during the transition to accommodate necessary arrangements such as child and adult care.

Reassigned employees will be given a $500 hardship bonus if they commit to the new assignment within 10 days and work in the new assignment for a minimum of 30 days. The hardship bonus will be paid at the completion of 30 days.

These changes allow a quick remedy to our employee crisis; however, they still will fall short of filling all the needed positions. That is how desperate this situation has become. That is why the other announced changes regarding a new minimum wage and employment incentives are taking place. We were damaging our brand and reputation if the crisis was not addressed in a meaningful way.

The surveys to our top 200 players and others indicate that a food court model could be successful and make a profit. Other casinos are also doing so. It will not look like a mall food court and will be much fancier and tastefully done with enough choices to satisfy most folks. The planning and redesign of the current buffet allows us the opportunity to quickly fill needed positions and the time to rebuild our labor force. Hopefully, it brings back the smiles on our employees faces. Happy employees result in better service and happier guests. When completed, we will still have our Monday night gathering place. It will merely look a little different. I will be looking for all of you when it opens.

Folks need to be realistic about what can and cannot be discussed with the members. Talking to the tribal members about this plan prior to engaging with the buffet employees is disrespectful to our employees and not how business should be done. As soon as it was clear the employees had been told, statements were released publicly and Tribal Council, including myself, discussed in this week’s Wednesday public meeting. It is recorded and can be viewed on the website.

One last item in this long piece. I am not on the Spirit Mountain Casino Board, but I do attend the meetings as a stakeholder. I want to give kudos to the Board of Directors and especially those Tribal Council Members that continue to serve on the Board in a voting role. Making the decision to move forward with these changes takes political courage. Everyone understands our buffet is more than a restaurant to our community. It was bound to upset a lot of people. It is a true sign of leadership when the right decisions are made despite it being unpopular. I fully support these changes and stand with the Board of Directors and our Casino Executive Team that put together and presented such a comprehensive plan in a short time.