Michigan Casino Cuts Hours

Facing flat revenues and pressure from the State of Michigan, the Leelanau Sands Casino has scaled back its operations to levels not seen since the late 1980’s. Officials of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians this month decided to close the doors at Leelanau County’s largest business on Mondays and Tuesdays. The largest single employer in the county, the casino is now open five days a week— Wednesdays through Sundays—instead of seven days a week as had been the practice since about 1989, according to Tribal officials. “We’ve found that we can now capture the same revenue in five days that we did in seven,” explained Chris Bussey, interim chief executive officer of the tribe’s Economic Development Corporation. Read full story