Just before a luxury shopping mall opened at Caesars Palace in 1992, the mall's marketing director, Maureen Crampton, stood behind the closed doors and thought to herself, "I do hope somebody is on the other side."

She need not have worried. More than a decade later, The Forum Shops is one of the most successful malls in the country, and high-end shopping has become one of the biggest pastimes in America's gambling capital.