LuAnn Pappas
LuAnn Pappas spent 30 years with the Harrah’s/Caesars organizations, working in many jurisdictions. But when the owners of the Scarlet Pearl in D’Iberville, Mississippi, Bob and Dolores Granieri, came calling, she made the jump. It was right after she had suffered a major heart attack, but she was ready for the challenge. Today, the Scarlet Pearl is one of the most successful casinos on the Gulf Coast. She sat down with GGB Publisher Roger Gros in the newly created players’ lounge in the property in September. To hear and see a full GGB Podcast of this interview, click here.
GGB: Explain what this property was like when you first got here.
Pappas: When I first got here, I was in a hard hat on an outside elevator. It was under construction when I came down to see it after the family told me they were building in Mississippi, which intrigued me because I had been here after Katrina to help reopen the Grand casino. At that time, I had lived in New Orleans, lived here, went back to Atlantic City, and then ultimately took this job.
You’ve had lots of experience in the industry, mostly with Caesars/Harrah’s Entertainment. What’s it like to come to a property where it’s owned by one family and you don’t have all that corporate oversight?
It’s been an amazing experience. As you know, I worked for Caesars 30 years. I started in the gift shop on the graveyard shift. This has been a big change and a welcome change. It’s very, very different because it is a single family-owned casino, their one and only casino venture. It’s just been an unbelievable ride ever since.
You had to develop a corporate culture here because it was a brand new property. What did you bring from Caesars and what did you institute on your own?
Well, it’s actually the opposite. We didn’t want a corporate culture. We wanted to really hit home that this is a family-owned business, that we care about you, we care about the community, and we care about our customers. We opened up saying we have three missions—clean, friendly and safe. What we do for you, the associates, what we do for our customers, and most importantly, what we do for the community. And what did I bring from Caesars? It really was the original Harrah’s days, when it was Phil Satre, Mike Rose and seven properties.
Let’s talk about the Southern Mississippi market. What is your market in terms of where your players come from?
It is very different than what I was used to, because at Harrah’s, it was more regional and national. We are probably 80 percent local. Customers come on average 14 times a month, predominantly female and obviously predominantly slots. Now, the big operators like Caesars and MGM, meaning the Beau Rivage, do fly in a pretty significant amount of charter planes. So we do get customers that visit from other markets. We see that when we pull the database.
But remember, when we opened, it was without a database. We might be the only casino I know in the country that started with nothing. So it was a struggle. As we sit here today and look back, there were times where we didn’t think we were going to make it. The first two years were rough when we were getting used to the dynamics of marketing to an ultra-high-frequent local customer.
What is your best season at Scarlet Pearl?
Typically the first quarter is the best quarter, which is the opposite of the other markets I’ve worked in. But remember, you’ve got Mardi Gras, President’s weekend, Valentine’s Day… Up north, you always had snow storms, so you suffered there. We don’t have to worry about that. We have hurricane season, yes, but the first quarter’s the best quarter, and actually the seasons here are all pretty even except that pop you do get in the first quarter.
