Pala Casino Spa & Resort, which has been showing signs of struggling in the ultra-competitive San Diego-area casino market, has replaced its CEO.
Fred A. Buro, a casino executive and gaming consultant, was brought on at the start of the new year, taking over for longtime former CEO Bill Bembenek.
In March, Bembenek acknowledged to the Union -Tribune that an unspecified number of layoffs — coming amid its planned $170 million expansion — was due in part to the economic pressures from “an increasingly competitive Southern California casino resort market.”
Then in July, Pala’s VP for hotel operations said the casino had deferred construction of a new 349-room luxury hotel tower — the cornerstone of its development project — attributing it to a duo of mega-expansions at Pechanga Resort & Casino and San Manuel Casino, costing a combined $850 million.
In a Jan. 6 email introducing himself to Pala employees, Buro acknowledged the cutthroat casino climate: “I know our competition is fierce, but I firmly believe we can craft a strategy that will allow us to effectively compete with them.”
He continued: “I look forward to meeting you and hearing your thoughts and ideas. Until then, think about how we can do the things that matter greatly to you at work that will also help keep our customers coming back.”
Through a spokesman, Buro declined to comment for this story, saying that he had nothing additional to offer beyond his letter to employees.
Besides Bembenek, Pala’s longtime PR director is also no longer employed by the casino, but reports that Pala had terminated several other high-level of its executive team and had cancelled its annual Christmas bonus to employees could not be confirmed.
According to Buro’s LinkedIn profile, he was the founder and CEO of Severity Inc., a Kentucky-based gaming and hospitality industry consulting firm. He held previous CEO, COO and executive marketing positions at tribal and non-tribal casinos and resorts across the U.S. “He has raised over $3 billion in funding and financing for large casino resort acquisitions and refinancing,” the bio says.
Bembenek held various management positions at Pala before being named CEO in 2008, including assistant general manager and vice president of slot operations.
Over the past few years, an estimated $1 billion has been pumped into the San Diego-area casino economy to build new hotel towers, massive pool complexes, swanky day spas, upscale restaurants and bars, event centers and, of course, added casino space for gambling.
Across Southern California — from Highland to Rancho Mirage, Anza to San Jacinto — casinos are locked in a luxury amenities arms race of sorts, with resorts clamoring to up their offerings to guests that go beyond gaming.
In March, Sycuan Casino in El Cajon will open its first hotel, a 302-room tower, along with a spa, pool complex with a lazy river, several dining and drinking venues and more.
In particular, Pechanga’s recent $300 million expansion, which was completed in March, has heated up competition in North County — where four San Diego casinos are located. The sprawling Pechanga resort, which is just over the San Diego-Riverside county line in Temecula and only about 10 miles from Pala, has 1,090 hotel rooms, making it the largest casino resort on the West Coast.
Pala was expected to break ground in October on its new hotel tower, adding 349 rooms to its existing 500-plus.
A visual indication of how close casino competition has become can be seen along the I-15, where going north to Temecula, past the SR-76, three consecutive billboard signs tout Pechanga’s new amenities. Heading south, the other side of the billboards Pala.