Primm Nev. Founders Seek Buyers to Stop Permanent Casino Closures
Posted on: May 18, 2026, 10:38h.
Last updated on: May 18, 2026, 11:31h.
- The Primm family is actively searching for buyers to save their town’s three aging border casinos from permanent closure
- Affinity Gaming will terminate 344 employees and shutter all remaining Primm businesses on July 4.
- Future resort viability may hinge on the nearby Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport, projected to open by 2037
The founding family of Primm is staging a desperate, last-ditch effort to save their namesake Nevada border town from becoming a gambling ghost town, hunting for a savior to keep the Primm Valley Resort alive and resurrect its two shuttered sister casinos.
In a statement provided to The California Post, Cory Clemetson — president of the Primm landowners’ group and grandson of town founder Ernie Primm — confirmed his family is attempting to identify ways to preserve the trio of aging resorts along Interstate 15.
Whiskey Pete’s, Buffalo Bill’s, and Primm Valley Resort have long served as the first burst of neon for millions of Californians driving to Las Vegas.
On May 5, Affinity Gaming — which purchased the properties from MGM Resorts for $400 million in 2007 — sent a termination notice to its 344 Primm employees, stating that all remaining businesses in the community would cease operations on July 4.
“If the Primm properties go dark, so does the welcome they have provided over the decades,” Clemetson said in his statement. “It is contrary to our values to let that happen without exploring all options. We are working tirelessly to find potential solutions for the Primm properties, fully understanding their iconic place in our geography and in our hearts.”
Affinity, owned by private‑equity firm Z Capital, has already shuttered Whiskey Pete’s in December 2024, later switching Buffalo Bill’s to event-only operation in July 2025.
The other doomed Primm businesses include the Lotto Store (in adjacent Nipton, Calif.), the Primm Center gas station, the Flying J truck stop, and the Desert Oasis Apartments — where many of Affinity’s 344 Primm employees reside. (The residents were ordered to vacate the premises by July 6, only two days after losing their jobs.)
Clemetson added that the landowners are working to assist affected families while evaluating long‑term options for the properties.
Countdown to Ghost Town
Affinity said declining traffic, increased competition from California tribal casinos, and the long tail of the COVID‑19 downturn have made the properties unsustainable.
In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, company spokeswoman Melissa Krantz called Primm “a significant cash drain and management distraction for many years.”
The tiny town 40 miles south of Las Vegas on the California border has experienced a steady decline in business for the past 20 years, but the Covid-19 pandemic was a death blow.
In fact, Primm Valley Resort & Casino was so empty on July 18, 2024, that Lydia Salmen, 70, was able to enter its unstaffed cage and make off with $625K in currency and $27K in casino chips. (She and her husband, John, were only caught because their Nissan hatchback was videotaped by a police body camera during an unrelated visit to the property the month before.)
Primm’s 371,000 square-foot outlet mall, which opened as the Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas in 1998 and was never owned by Affinity, has become a nearly abandoned relic populated mostly by YouTube live streamers.
Could Primm Rise Again?
Some real‑estate analysts have suggested the land could be more valuable as an industrial or logistics hub serving truck traffic between Southern California and Las Vegas.
Clemetson, however, maintains that the family is still pursuing a path that would keep Primm’s lights on.
Any plans of interesting a casino buyer will likely hinge upon future plans for a supplemental Las Vegas airport. And patience.
On track to open by 2037 near Primm, the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport expected to handle up to 35 million travelers a year.
Local and federal authorities are treating the project — currently undergoing environmental review — as a high priority because Harry Reid International Airport is projected to hit its strict ceiling capacity of 63 to 65 million annual passengers by 2030.
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