Why Italian restaurateur is betting big on Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY - Gino Iovino doubled down and risked it all on Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

Where others saw gritty urban facades with little to offer, Iovino saw diamonds in the rough.

First, he gambled on an Italian restaurant - Girasole Ristorante, at 13th and Locust Streets - in 1990, when there was not as much of a food scene in downtown Philadelphia. It became a hit, so he took the concept, and name, to Atlantic City two years later.

Fast-forward to 2016. He's wagering again, this time on a pair of retail stores in what was once the Pier at Caesars, now called the Playground.

"I believe in Atlantic City," said Iovino, as he repositioned high-end purses inside Eleganza, the fashion store he owns on the second floor of the Playground. Managing the store is his girlfriend of 16 years, Elena DiCriscio, 39.

That kind of optimism is instilled in someone who employs nearly two dozen family members.

"He's very patient," said niece Michelle Iovino, 39, who works the bar and is a server in the Philadelphia Girasole, which moved in April 2009 to its current location near Broad and Pine Streets, inside Symphony House. Iovino's brother, Franco, 66, and his sister-in-law, Angela, 58, and cousin Antonio Constanza, 54, from his mother's side, all work there.

"We all have a purpose in life," Iovino said of employing his clan.

He was just 18, straight out of high school, when he left Naples and immigrated to Philly. Over three decades, he legally brought over 22 relatives so they, too, could get a piece of the American dream.

The low-key Girasole in Atlantic City sits near the Chelsea Hotel and the Ocean Club condo towers.

"It's fabulous food. It's not something you would expect for Atlantic City, specifically for a non-casino restaurant," said Ryan O'Neill, 23, an engineering apprentice at Bally's who ate spaghettini neri and gnocchi there recently with date Chelsea Marino, 22.

While he enjoys feeding the masses, Iovino's first love is fashion. After all, he was born and bred in the country of Gianni Versace, Giorgio Armani, and Dolce & Gabbana.

In the fall of 2014, he took his apparel shop Eleganza out of the Pier at Caesars mall when four casinos closed. Iovino and Eleganza returned to the mall after Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein took it over in spring 2015, renaming it the Playground. Blatstein is investing $50 million, adding bars, restaurants, and retailers.

Iovino is in the midst of expanding Eleganza into two shops - one for men, called Eleganza Uomo, that will open next month and sell pricey Italian suits for less, and the existing smaller Eleganza for women, whose success funded the expansion. The two stores will be a few doors apart on the second level, and near other luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. Iovino also wants to open a high-end Italian home-furnishings store in the mall.

There are signs that non-gambling revenue is starting to gain traction in A.C.

Third-party business sales, which included leased space within casinos to businesses that provide food, beverage, retail, and entertainment, rose 4.7 percent from nearly $40.6 million in the first quarter of 2015 to $42.5 million for the same quarter this year, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported.

It's why entrepreneurs such as Iovino are crucial to the resort's revival after gambling revenue was slashed in half, going from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.6 billion last year.

"I love for people to experience beautiful fashion and good eating," he said. "We call that dolce vita - the sweet life."

Blatstein said the mall was 60 percent vacant and emptying quickly a year ago before he bought it. Today, he said, about 85 percent of the leases are signed. He's aiming for 100 percent occupancy by year's end.

"Vacationers strolling the Boardwalk can easily shop at the Playground, but there is not enough year-round Boardwalk traffic to sustain a retailer year-round," said Michael Busler, a finance instructor at Stockton University. "Making the Playground more of an entertainment venue may make more sense. Although that approach was attempted last year with mixed results.

"The key to long-term success is to find the right mix of stores to attract non-vacationing shoppers."

Iovino said Blatstein asked him to return to the mall, saying that "it needed some luxury brands."

He also said the overhead of running a shop at the redone mall was a lot less than at the old one, because Blatstein negotiated cheaper rents for small businesses such as his.

The 600-square-foot Eleganza for women sells Versace sunglasses for $200 and a Roberto Cavalli bikini that retails for $250.

Iovino, who turned 62 last week, says he needs to capture about 2 percent of the high-end tourists coming to A.C. to turn a profit. "We don't have any competition here as far as high-end men's suits," he said. "We can capture that market."

He ticked off some positives: A new Stockton University A.C. campus is rising a block away from the Playground; Revel, the mega-casino that went belly-up, is about to reopen as an entertainment complex; Showboat's hotel just reopened; and MGM bought out Boyd Gaming's share of Borgata for $900 million.

"I'm confident A.C. will come back, and I want to be a part of it," Iovino said. "I'm putting my sticks down."

sparmley@phillynews.com

215-854-4184 @SuzParmley