Rewards program at Jerry’s Nugget extends beyond casino walls

Peter DeMangus had a problem.

The minority owner and general manager of Jerry's Nugget wanted to find a way to give casino loyalty card players more options to redeem their reward points, but he was limited by the traditional offerings at the casino.

"The challenge we've always had, being a smaller property and not having that variety, is we'd always like to give (players) more," DeMangus said.

By Las Vegas standards, Jerry's Nugget is a small casino, nestled on Las Vegas Boulevard as you enter North Las Vegas.

It has 800 slots and a wide variety of video and table games. It has a couple of restaurants, a bakery, a gift shop and an event theater. It's been a template of neighborhood gaming since it opened its doors in 1964.

But compared to properties owned by Cannery Casino Resorts or Station Casinos, it is short on amenities such as a hotel, movie theater or spa.

Because of that, DeMangus and his marketing team started looking outside their walls for ways to give their loyalty card players, called "The More Club," more bang for their players-card buck.

In March, Jerry's Nugget partnered with neighborhood businesses to let its customers redeem their players-card points for cash certificates that could be used at the local businesses.

"Now you open up a whole area of variety you didn't have before," DeMangus said, explaining that the program is helping draw customers who know they can get a different type of rewards, even if the payback is off-property.

"That's why the neighborhood merchant program works so well," said DeMangus, who got the idea from a similar program once used by a Mesquite casino. Cindy Ferris, marketing manager for Jerry's Nugget, said cardholders can still opt to take cash.

"Instead of giving them $25 in cash, we'll give them a choice of a $25 merchant certificate," Ferris said. "So that not only makes our customer happy, it also makes the program stronger from the merchant side. We've just rewarded the customer with $25 we were going to give them anyway."

One of the first businesses to partner with Jerry's Nugget was King Ranch Market on Eastern Avenue about a mile from the casino.

William Miguel, vice president of El Monte, Calif.-based King Ranch Markets, said the program helps boost exposure for both businesses.

"Their customers get to see our name and there's a value there," he said. "We've been getting the coupons, so it's been working. I would say it is definitely a success."

King Ranch Markets is the only out-of-state chain the casino has developed a partnership with to date, but it has five other locally owned business partners.

They are Nevada Flowers and Gift Shop, Hahn's Military Surplus, Bob's Car Wash, La Corona Furniture and Latin-music store Mundo Musical.

Jerry's Nugget has signed exclusivity agreements with its partners so competitors can't establish similar programs.

Ferris said the retailers' logos are displayed around the casino floor and can be displayed on the video sign in front of the casino.

"It is good exposure for the merchants," Ferris said. "To pay to have your logo on the video sign is worth $3,000 per month, easy."

Despite the partners' enthusiasm, putting the program together hasn't been easy.

Ferris said some businesses that were approached would turn it down without even listening to the full proposal.

Miguel said he originally didn't see much use for the plan but decided to give it try because of the low upfront cost.

"I didn't really think it was going to work," Miguel said. "It really didn't cost anything and it gave us exposure. So I was, quite frankly, very impressed when we started to see the coupons. I've been completely surprised and relieved that it's working."

DeMangus said most of his customers' requests for merchant certificates have been to King Ranch.

"We had to branch out and look for variety," DeMangus said. "We figured the best way to do variety is partner with neighborhood merchants and get a variety of merchants that were all different and appeal to our customer base."

Jerry's Nugget is not the only North Las Vegas casino trying out new ideas for its players club programs.

Lucky Club Casino & Hotel, off the Cheyenne Avenue exit on Interstate 15, purchased thousands of dollars worth of Wal-Mart gift cards that it gives to club players instead of cash.

"It is extremely popular," principal owner Seth Schorr said. "It's our most popular promotion to date."

And not everyone agrees with Jerry's Nugget's approach.

Silver Nugget owner and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Fine said he toyed with a similar idea but abandoned it.

"We found our players prefer to have the cash in their hand," said Fine. "Especially in this economy."

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.