Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/94837
Superlatives POWER STRIP new kid on the strip IDEAS OF CEO JOHN UNWIN. BY AARON RASMUSSEN PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN BROWN S hortly TWO YEARS IN, COSMOPOLITAN HAS TRANSFORMED THE TRADITIONAL NOTION OF A STRIP CASINO, THANKS TO THE December after Cosmopolitan opened in 2010, CEO John Unwin stopped to fill up his car at a gas station when a stranger approached him to ask if he was "the guy from Cosmopolitan." "I said I was," Unwin says, "and he replied, 'Well it's great; we love it. It's about time somebody brought some new ideas here.'" Unwin couldn't agree more. "Las Vegas is such an exciting, sexy place," he says. "But needed to be brought up to speed a little bit." That's why when Unwin, 54, landed his dream job at the small—if only by Vegas standards— resort and casino, he put the pedal to the metal. Unlike some of Unwin's past employers, includ- ing Caesars Palace where he was general manager, the one-off property isn't part of a large conglomerate. Unwin says it just that's partly why (despite not having the "advantages to econo- mies of scale and support when you're part of a big company") it's become so popular. "We are very nimble because we are a small company and can respond quickly to the needs of our busi- ness and customers," he says. "We do a lot of local business; they like us." continued on page 60 PEOPLE, CULTURE, STYLE John Unwin unwinds with a Scotch in the Talon Club high-limit salon. VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 59