Starboard makes land-based store debut with Las Vegas openings

USA. Starboard Resort, Starboard Group’s land-based vacation retail division, officially debuted its first boutiques today, with Westgate Resorts in Las Vegas as its initial partner.

As reported last September, leading cruise retail player Starboard announced a new corporate structure across three business units – Starboard Cruise, Starboard Luxury and Starboard Resort.

The three new shops in Las Vegas — Luxe by Starboard, The Edit by Starboard and Baubles by Starboard — are designed to create an “experiential retail destination” featuring curated assortments, personalised services and engaging activations and events.

Starboard Resort, said the company, is building on its parent company’s 65-year history to elevate retailing at luxury, family, spa, ski, beach and other resorts and vacation properties

The company said it is now “strategically expanding its reach from sea to land and leveraging its industry expertise, technology and supply chain infrastructure, and global partnerships with leading luxury, fashion, jewellery and other brands to drive engagement, revenue and loyalty for its resort partners”.

“We know from our many decades of curating elevated retail environments for the world’s best cruise lines that vacationers love unique, memorable shopping experiences—but we recognised that guests at vacation resorts were often underserved when it came to retail options,” said Starboard Group President and CEO Lisa Bauer.

“By launching our first land-based boutiques in partnership with Westgate Las Vegas, we’re taking the first significant steps to close this gap. Our strategic expansion enables us to fully leverage our vacation retail expertise and ensure that every resort brand can offer retail experiences that delight on-site guests and appeal to local consumers looking for fresh, elevated shopping options.”

The official launch of Starboard Resort’s retail operations coincides with the continued growth of the leisure tourism market, noted the company, with Statista estimating vacationers will spend mor than US$7 trillion globally this year.

“Expanding into land-based retail is a natural evolution for Starboard, and we are thrilled to introduce our first boutique experiences in partnership with Westgate Resorts,” said Starboard Group Senior Vice President, Luxury & Resorts Stacy Shaw.

“With Luxe by Starboard, The Edit by Starboard and Baubles by Starboard, we are bringing our deep expertise in vacation retail to create shopping destinations that captivate both resort guests and local visitors. This launch marks the beginning of an exciting journey as we continue to redefine experiential retail in premier vacation destinations worldwide.”

“At Westgate Las Vegas, we are always looking for innovative ways to enhance our guests’ experience, and our partnership with Starboard Resort marks an exciting new chapter in luxury and experiential retail,” said Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino President & General Manager Cami Christensen.

“These new boutiques bring an elevated shopping experience to our resort, offering curated selections and immersive activations that perfectly complement the energy and sophistication of Las Vegas. We are proud to be the first resort to debut Starboard Resort’s visionary retail concept and look forward to delighting our guests with unique and legendary shopping moments.”

The Boutiques at Westgate Las Vegas

• Luxe by Starboard anchors the new trio of shops at Westgate Las Vegas and the 300sq ft store is the sole retail offering in the resort’s main lobby. Encased in glass on three sides, Luxe by Starboard features an assortment of fine jewellery, natural and lab-grown diamonds, certified preowned Swiss time pieces, and preowned and vintage designer bags and small leather goods from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada.
• The Edit by Starboard offers apparel for women and men, along with handbags, Westgate Resorts-branded apparel, a bridal capsule, candles, fragrances and souvenirs. The 1,250sq ft shop features eveningwear, daywear and resortwear by women’s brand Venus, along with apparel from Lamarque, vintage-inspired graphic tees from Recycled Karma and other fashion, accessory and fashion jewellery offerings from brands such as Mary Frances, Shiraleah and America & Beyond. Men’s offerings include apparel from Psycho Bunny, 7Diamonds and Rock Roll n Soul, while accessories include designer sunglasses from Ray-Ban, Gucci, Prada and NYS and tech from Skullcandy.
• Baubles by Starboard offers fashion jewellery, permanent jewellery and customisation options such as on-site engraving services, providing guests with ‘wearable memory’ options that connect them back to their vacation experience. Shae, Starboard’s exclusive fashion jewellery brand, features prominently in the 250sq ft outlet, along with Jet Set Candy, a travel-inspired jewellery brand featuring charms and accessories. The boutique is the first brick-and-mortar location for Taudrey Jewelry.

In a statement the retailer added: “Starboard Resort creates bespoke shopping experiences for each of its vacation destination partners, enabling resort brands to offer differentiated, yet consistent, retail offerings that showcase the essence of each property while keeping their brand DNA at the centre of the experience.”

At Luxe by Starboard, customers can book personal shopping appointments. The Edit by Starboard features Vegas-themed wall wraps and camera stands that make it easy to take selfies and capture ‘Instagram moments’. At Baubles by Starboard, customers can customise their bracelets and necklaces with charms from Jet Set Candy and enjoy personalised services such as piercings.