TravelWeekly.com managing editor -- and chocolate-lover --
Michael Nassaur spent a day at M&M's World. His report
follows:
he last time you were in this
desert town, it's quite likely you saw something and said to
yourself, "Only in Las Vegas."
And, if at that moment, you were looking at the M&M's World
store, you'd be right.
This retail location in the Showcase Mall on Las Vegas
Boulevard, which draws about 10,000 visitors per day, is unique in
the portfolio of Hackettstown, N.J.-based Masterfoods USA, owner of
the popular M&M's brand.
But clients need not be chocolate lovers to enjoy a spin around
this place.
Opened in October 1997, the 28,000-square-foot, four-floor
M&M's World offers candies and merchandise available nowhere
else. Chief among those exclusive offerings are the different hues
of M&M's in the Colorworks section.
Although different-color, milk-chocolate M&M's -- please
don't call them "plain" anymore -- can be found at other retail
locations, in the store's catalog and on line at www.colorworks.com,
the out-of-the-ordinary-colored peanut varieties are available only
in the Las Vegas store.
So how many colors are there in the Colorworks rainbow? Twenty-one,
including hues ranging from red to pink, black to aqua-green and
silver to cream.
According to a company spokeswoman, among the most popular
colors are blue, the two shades of purple, teal and white -- the
last being used primarily for wedding decorations.
Other merchandise runs from the expected to the bizarre.
Aside from the ubiquitous clothing items with all your favorite
M&M's characters, much of the store's second floor is devoted
to housewares.
Motivated shoppers can deck out an entire kitchen in M&M's
teapots, cookie jars, placemats, glassware and plates. Even tables
and chairs are available to complete the theme.
But it doesn't stop there. For the bathroom, there are towels
and toothbrushes, and the bedroom can be dressed up with M&M's
pillows, comforters and linens, along with M&M's candles for
the romantic chocoholic.
Have a bar at home? Stock it with M&M's World shot glasses
and let your guests belly up to the bar while sitting in M&M's
director's-chair-style bar stools.
Also available is exclusive auto-racing merchandise on the
fourth floor, where an authentic, M&M's-sponsored Nascar race
car driven by Ken Schrader resides.
But even after buying and shipping all the merchandise and
munchies, the adventure continues.
On the store's third floor, which is decorated in a seasonal
theme depending on the time of year, visitors can line up to see
the free 10-minute, 3-D movie "I Lost My M in Vegas."
The movie centers on the misadventures of company spokescandies
Red and Yellow.
Red exchanges his M for chips on the roulette table, and bets it
all on -- what else? -- red. After losing the wager, the two
venture to find Red's M and return it to its rightful place.
Silly? Of course, but with a pre-movie interactive tour that
explains how the candies are made and a series of movie posters
touting coming attractions such as "Aust-M Powers," "Ms in Black,"
"Mission M-possible" and "The M-pire Strikes Back," it's a whole
lot of fun, as well.
One more hot spot at M&M's World is Red's Pit Stop, an ice
cream and dessert bar where the store also hosts children's
birthday parties.
The one-and-a-half-hour parties are available at prices ranging
from $10 to $12 per child, depending on the number of children (up
to 20) attending.
The party includes a half-sheet cake, soft drinks, a gift bag
for each guest, games, a viewing of the movie and a visit from two
candy characters. Advance reservations are recommended.
For more information, visit the Web at http://shop.m-ms.com or
call (702) 740-2520.
Ethel M serves up candy-making tours
LAS VEGAS -- Located in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, the
Ethel M chocolate factory is one of the main reasons that
Masterfoods brought its only M&M's store to the Strip.
According to a spokeswoman, when the company decided to launch a
stand-alone retail location, Las Vegas was selected because it
already was the home to its only other retail operation, gourmet
confectioner Ethel M -- a brand that had retail expertise already
in place.
But there's more here than its consumer acumen.
Every year, the Ethel M chocolate factory -- named for the
mother of the brand's founder, Forrest Mars -- attracts about
700,000 visitors to tours of the factory and on-site cactus
garden.
The free, self-guided tours begin in a small shop that opens up
into a glass-shielded, open kitchen. Mounted video screens explain
how Mars family recipes, some dating to 1911, are converted into
gourmet confections.
In the next room is a candy-making demonstration done with a
small-scale version of the massive machines in the production line.
Visitors can sample the product.
If they would like a different kind of souvenir, guests can pose
for a picture and have it put on an edible chocolate postcard for
$7.50.
The photo system, called Imagion, also is capable of accepting
scanned pictures, which could make an interesting party or wedding
favor.
At the end of the factory tour, guests enter a shop where they
can sample any of the 60 varieties Ethel M makes and custom-design
their own box of candy for $26 a pound.
Outside the factory is the 3.6-acre Botanical Cactus Garden.
Containing 300 species, many of which are not indigenous to the
area, the garden is decked out in more than 250,000 holiday lights
and will remain so until Jan. 5.
Aside from cactus species, which range from the giant saguaro of
Arizona and New Mexico to the Australia native shoestring acaria,
the cactus garden takes environmentalism one step further.
Even a cactus needs water in the desert, and supplying the
garden with its necessary amount is the Living Machine. The
"machine" is a miniature ecosystem -- consisting of fish, snails,
plants and microbes -- that converts dirty dishwater from the
factory into water with a purity that is nearly potable.
For more information on the tours, visit www.ethelm.com or call
(888) 627-0990. To arrange a guided tour for groups of 10 or more,
call (702) 435-2641. -- M.N.
Did you know...
• M&M's made their debut in 1941.
• The first M was imprinted on the candies in 1950.
• Peanut M&M's were introduced in 1954; the same year the
slogan "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand,"
was launched.
• More than 400 million M&M's candies are produced each
day.
• M&M stands for Mars and Murrie, the founders of the
company.