Augustine Casino Moves ahead in East Valley

Al Vasquez

La Prensa Hispana

For seven years, Augustine Casino has concentrated on serving their customer base which is primarily derived from the local population. A visit to Augustine Casino reveals a friendly family atmosphere. It is a place where everyone has a favorite reason for going. For some, it is the slot machines, card tables, excellent food or sometimes just to say hello to a favorite employee or the friends you know you will always run into. Many seniors are particularly fond of Augustine Casino’s senior specials.

Bob Jones, Augustine Casino, General Manager is very clear about his mission. He acknowledges the casino depends on the locals who know not only where the action is but also where they will be treated the best. Jones has been rewarded for his consistency in giving back by having retained 25 percent of his work force who have been with Augustine since opening. Augustine Casino has not had to lay anyone off during these trying times. As of this week they still had two openings they were taking applications to fill.

Bob Jones was very clear in stating, “manager’s make the decisions, but employees make the difference”. We make every effort to respect our employees and make them happy and in return, the attitude extends to the way they treat our customers. “We reach out to the local population all year round, not just during the summer as do other East Valley casinos. We plan on special giveaways during the summer just for our local patrons.

Augustine Casino takes part in many community events. They participate in community clean-ups such as the park clean up campaign, the graffiti abatement campaign, they support Martha’s Kitchen and the Coachella Chamber of Commerce. Recently they started the East Valley Rotary Club of which Bob Jones is the president. For several years now, Augustine has led the way in green energy and have reduced their power usage by 25 to 30% utilizing solar power and conservation.

Bob Jones is confident his marketing department lead by Maria Canchola has found the real key for success, know your customer base and market to that base. He learned a long time ago that 85% of your customers will come from within 15 miles of the casino and this is the base Augustine intends to keep in mind. While the other East Valley casinos believe they can increase their base by drawing from Los Angeles with bus tours, Augustine knows this strategy is counter productive. You end up ignoring your regular support base who visit the casino twice a week by instead courting sporadic customers who come once every three or four months. Beside, Jones adds, “our regular patrons have indicated they prefer the local crowd where a friendly, entertaining casino is the attraction”. “Believe me” he states, “we love those who come off of interstate 10 to pay us a visit and we treat them like family but we never forget to pay special attention to our locals.”