{"id":8198,"date":"2014-10-25T15:38:20","date_gmt":"2014-10-25T15:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/10\/25\/nevada-150-respect-was-earned-for-frank-fertitta-jr-founding-father-of-local-casinos\/"},"modified":"2014-10-25T15:38:20","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T15:38:20","slug":"nevada-150-respect-was-earned-for-frank-fertitta-jr-founding-father-of-local-casinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/10\/25\/nevada-150-respect-was-earned-for-frank-fertitta-jr-founding-father-of-local-casinos\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada 150: Respect was earned for Frank Fertitta Jr., founding father of local casinos"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"\"
\n\tMembers of the Fertitta family, from left, Frank Fertitta III, Frank Fertitta Jr. and Lorenzo Fertitta stand poolside at their new Red Rock Resort hotel-casino on Monday April 10, 2006<\/span><\/p>\n

\tEditor\u2019s Note: Nevada 150 is a yearlong series highlighting the people, places and things that make up the history of the state.<\/p>\n

\tIt seemed out of place to refer to gaming industry pioneer Frank Fertitta Jr. by his first name.<\/p>\n

\tOther than close friends and business associates, the late founder of Station Casinos was known as \u201cMr. Fertitta.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIt was out of respect.<\/p>\n

\tTo employees, customers and admirers, he was \u201cMr. Fertitta.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tTo Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta, he was simply \u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe brothers recalled their father as someone who earned respect by his actions. They view him as one of Nevada\u2019s great casino business entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere is not a day that goes by that I don\u2019t think of him,\u201d said Frank Fertitta III, CEO and co-owner of Station Casinos.<\/p>\n

\tThe elder Fertitta, who died in 2009 at the age of 70, created a brand of casinos almost 40 years ago that Southern Nevadans now consider commonplace \u2014 the locals gaming property.<\/p>\n

\tHe connected with his customers, creating promotions and offering prizes that were viewed as ground-breaking.<\/p>\n

\tFertitta was the first casino operator to give away a brand new automobile every day for a month. In his casino football selection contests, Fertitta awarded newly-built houses to both the person who picked the most winners during a season and the person who picked the fewest. He also gave away $250,000 to anyone who went 50-50 in the contest.<\/p>\n

\tHe created the buffet for locals and easy access parking, which are commonplace now at every locals casino. He was committed to customer service.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI think that\u2019s one of the things that\u2019s overlooked about my dad,\u201d said Lorenzo Fertitta, who is a co-owner of Station Casinos and CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship. \u201cHe was a tremendous promoter and marketer. He was always thinking up innovative marketing ideas. He was hands on in all our marketing meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIt began with what is now the Palace Station.<\/p>\n

\tFrank Fertitta Jr. had an idea that local residents \u2014 especially those getting off work from their jobs on the Strip \u2014 wanted a place to relax, gamble and find a good meal before heading home.<\/p>\n

\tWith a borrowed $10,000 and two partners, he opened The Casino in 1976, a 5,000-square-foot building attached to the Mini-Price Motor Inn on Sahara Avenue, west of Interstate 15. The Casino became the Bingo Palace a year later when he added a bingo hall.
\n\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\tIn 1983, an expansion and renovation renamed the property Palace Station.<\/p>\n

\tFrank Fertitta III said Palace Station underwent 13 different remodeling efforts over the years, adding restaurants and other amenities.<\/p>\n

\tToday, Station Casinos has 19 large and small properties throughout Southern Nevada. The company also manages Indian casinos in California and Michigan.<\/p>\n

\tBoulder Station was well under construction when Frank Fertitta Jr. retired in 1993, turning the company over to his sons who took Station Casinos public.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe Palace Station was like my baby,\u201d Fertitta said in a 2006 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, prior to the opening of Red Rock Resort. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy to give it up. My sons had the ideas on how to grow the company beyond what we ever thought possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBorn Oct. 30, 1938, in Beaumont, Texas, Frank Fertitta Jr. arrived in Las Vegas with his wife, Victoria, in 1960 from Galveston, Texas.<\/p>\n

\tHis first job was as a bellman at the Tropicana while learning to deal blackjack. From 1960-76, he served as a dealer and held other gaming positions including pit boss, baccarat manager and general manager at the Stardust, Tropicana, Circus Circus, Sahara and Fremont.<\/p>\n

\tLorenzo Fertitta said his father experienced many different management styles during his career.<\/p>\n

\tAdded Frank Fertitta III: \u201cHe told us that sometimes you learn more from what you see people do wrong than what you see people doing right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe brothers described their father as humble and unassuming.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe didn\u2019t demand respect, he just earned it,\u201d Lorenzo Fertitta said. \u201cHe would walk the casino floor every day and talk with the employees. He knew everyone by first name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tGlenn Christenson, Station Casinos long-time chief financial officer who spent 17 years with the gaming company, said Frank Fertitta Jr. never sought out attention. His charitable contributions were done quietly and privately.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt all goes back to that respect everyone felt about him,\u201d Christenson said. \u201cHe had the confidence to turn the family business over to his sons. He never second-guessed them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEven retirement, Frank Fertitta Jr. spent time at the Palace Station. He could be found most days eating meals in Fisherman\u2019s Broiler and visiting with employees and customers.<\/p>\n

\tHe was also available to offer advice to his sons.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe saw the beginning of the downturn and the difficult times,\u201d Frank Fertitta III said. \u201d He always thought we would figure a way out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThere was just one time the sons rejected their father\u2019s advice: when they purchased UFC.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cFrank and I had the utmost respect for dad,\u201d Lorenzo Fertitta recalled. \u201cWe had never done anything he didn\u2019t approve. When he found out we were buying UFC, we were summoned to lunch at his table at the Broiler. He told us he didn\u2019t want us to do it. He didn\u2019t think it was good for the reputation of the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe brothers explained their plans to change the direction of the UFC into a true professional sports league. Dad relented and told his sons it was their decision.<\/p>\n

\tA few years later, he attended a UFC card in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe became the biggest fan,\u201d Frank Fertitta III said.<\/p>\n

\n

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Members of the Fertitta family, from left, Frank Fertitta III, Frank Fertitta Jr. and Lorenzo Fertitta stand poolside at their new Red Rock Resort hotel-casino on Monday April 10, 2006 Editor\u2019s Note: Nevada 150 is a yearlong series highlighting the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}