While Harrah’s business remains above both its own projections and those of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the slots losses have the casino operators scrambling. It is upgrading its restaurants and starting to hold concerts on its new patio and on its racetrack, efforts geared toward becoming a ‘night out’ destination for customers farther away. To fight back, the casino is trying to rebrand itself and increase the quality of its offerings.Įarlier this month, it announced it was rebranding itself Harrah’s Philadelphia to give customers a better idea of where it is. … You just always, always have to be creating a competitive advantage.’
‘The Atlantic City lesson is certainly one that we all need to learn. ‘We’ve certainly felt the pressures,’ said Ron Baumann, the Chester casino’s general manager and a veteran of Atlantic City, where casinos have seen their revenues plummet amid heightened competition from Pennsylvania. Harrah’s casino in Chester, a long-downtrodden city in the southern suburbs, also is closer to competition in Delaware and Maryland. CHESTER – When Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack opened its doors in this struggling city in January 2007, it was the state’s third casino, a novelty that pulled in Philadelphia-area gamblers thrilled not to have to drive to Atlantic City.įive years later, Pennsylvania has 11 casinos, four in the Philadelphia area.
