Petersburg business owners say they’ve had zero customers come from new casino

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- One month the since much-anticipated casino opened in Petersburg, nearby business owners say they still haven't seen the new customers they were promised.

Since it opened on Jan. 22, the Live! Casino off Wagner Road has generated millions of dollars and brought in tens of thousands of guests. But the local business owners who were assured they'd see a boost say the casino hasn't brought them any customers.

"Not one. Not yet," said Demetrius Frazier, owner of Resist Booksellers in Old Towne Petersburg.

Frazier's business is one of several that has partnered with the casino's rewards program. When casino goers play, they earn vouchers or "comps" to spend in the area. That hasn't brought people in, either. It's left business owners scratching their heads.

"Maybe they haven't gotten as much traction in the casino yet. Maybe the voucher program is ... maybe they have some hiccups," Frazier said. "But we haven't heard any communication specifically stating that."

Casino officials report quite the opposite.

"Numbers have been very, very strong," said Penny Parayo, Vice President and General Manager of the casino. "We've seen almost an upward of 15,000 new Live! members into our database so far. We've seen about 5,000 people up and down the East Coast coming in, visiting us a day. So it's been just a great month for us."

Virginia Lottery reported the casino made almost $4.7 million just in its first 10 days. Nearly $300,000 of that went straight to the city of Petersburg. But that money hasn't trickled down to these businesses.

Cindy Thompson owns Cindy's Gift Shop. She's also partnered with the Live! Reward program, and hasn't had any customers come in to cash vouchers, or any that say they came from the casino. She said she had one casino employee come in, who she recognized from their work jacket.

"We're kind of wondering when the influx is going to come," Thompson said. "I would like to give them some feedback and kind of get an idea of how we can maybe work things a little differently, if we continue to see not much activity."

Parayo said the activity from vouchers will come with time.

"We are going through a growing pains right now," Parayo said. "30 days in, a brand new database, a brand new team, you know, I would always say that we're not perfect. We still are going through the growing pains as well. So if we're not communicating with them, we should be."

Parayo said the casino's marketing team will be keeping track of how customers use their comps at local businesses, when they do. This information will show how the partnership is shaping up in future months.