The Las Vegas Strip has a well-deserved reputation for excess and indulgence.
People visit the Strip, pockets stuffed with money ready to spend it in ways they never would at home. That might mean fancy meals, spa treatments, pro sporting events, UFC or boxing matches, or tickets to pricey concerts.
It also, of course, means gambling. Las Vegas offers every manner of gambling, You can sit down at a table, mindlessly play slot machines, try your hand at video poker, or bet on sporting events in countless different ways.
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Gambling creates winners and people with fistfuls of money they're looking to spend. That's why all the major Las Vegas Strip casinos offer upscale retail adjacent to their casinos. Both Caesars Entertainment (CZR) -) and MGM Resorts International offer shops to buy everything from jewelry and fancy clothes to stores that sell pricey makeup and whole shops that seemingly sell nothing but bath bombs.
If a winning gambler wants a new pair of high-priced sunglasses to block out the rising sun or a designer handbag or piece of luggage to gift to a spouse or partner, the big Las Vegas Strip resorts put the finest retail steps away from their gaming floors.
Las Vegas operators fully understand that people flush with winning who have perhaps indulged in more than a few adult beverages, or maybe something stronger, tend to make buying decisions they may not otherwise make. In many ways, the entire Strip has been set up to siphon off cash in every way imaginable.
Now, The Venetian has added a new way for tourists flush with cash to leave more of that money in Sin City.
Image source: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Las Vegas Strip adds novel luxury retailer
Privé Porter, a reseller of ultra-upscale handbags, quietly opened a store in the Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian. The location opened in Nov. just before the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix race.
The company sells handbags that average $35,000 each. That means that even for Las Vegas, it's seeking a very high-end clientele.
"At Privé Porter we have turned our love, knowledge, and expertise of the ultra-luxury handbag market into an endeavor to provide our global customers with the most coveted and rare items," the company shared on its website. "We specialize in sourcing, authenticating, and delivering the Hermès handbags that are elusive to the vast majority of even wealthy consumers."
Privé Porter, which was founded in 2008, prides itself on verifying the authenticity of all its bags.
"We take pride in providing our customers with the largest selection of Hermès Birkin handbags in the world," the company added. "We have established a proprietary global supply chain that provides items with very high demand and painfully low supply. We then reward our customers to access those rare and ultra-luxury items with convenience and white-glove service in an otherwise unavailable way."
Las Vegas offers access to wealthy customers
While the average Las Vegas visitor can't afford a $35,000 handbag (or at least shouldn't buy one), the city certainly has a steady supply of high rollers who can. Privé Porter caters to a customer base that will pay a higher price for hard-to-find items.
“There’s a huge element in Las Vegas of YOLO, you only live once, and fast money and impressing people,” company co-founder Jeffrey Berk told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Getting shut down at Hermes for a Birkin, it’s not going to be very long, when people are saying like, ‘Well screw it. I’m just gonna go over to the Venetian and Prive Porter where I could buy two, three, four at a time if we want to.’”
The company does not buy directly from Hermes. It sources its products from customers looking to sell or trade their bags, as well as buying from other luxury resellers.
"Privé Porter purchases items. No, Prive Porter is not a consignment store. We do this in order to best ensure authenticity, quality, and provenance of the items we sell. We also want to provide our buyers and sellers the highest level of service and convenience," the company posted in its FAQ.
