The Khalaf household has built a concern successful Las Vegas selling fossils, crystals and meteorites, on with metallic sculptures made successful Thailand from junked car parts.
Now the household has opened a antithetic benignant of store adjacent Las Vegas’ famed casino corridor — and successful existent Vegas fashion, it’s connected the tract of a erstwhile portion club.
Mo Money, which buys and sells jewelry, watches, golden coins and the like, opened past period connected Flamingo Road betwixt Koval Lane and Paradise Road, astir a mile eastbound of the Strip. It replaced the erstwhile long-time concern there, Club Platinum, albeit successful a afloat gutted building.
The Khalaf household bought the half-acre tract precocious past twelvemonth for astir $2.4 million, spot records show. Plus, it outgo conscionable implicit $1 cardinal to alteration the portion nine into the store it is today, according to Ashraf “Alex” Khalaf, proprietor of luxury retailer Kalifano.
He said the aged gathering had a foul odor and was acheronian inside, but aft the sweeping renovations, it present has caller mechanical systems, roofing, walls, solid and more.
Last fall, the Clark County Building Department issued a licence valued astatine astir $770,640 for improvements to the 1960s-era gathering astatine 311 E. Flamingo Road, with plans calling for a “complete interior renovation and exterior upgrades,” region records show.
Mo Money is not a pawn shop, arsenic Clark County records amusement it has a secondhand-dealer licence for a specialty shop.
Khalaf’s 25-year-old son, Mohammad “Mo” Khalaf, is managing spouse of the sleek-looking store that bears his nickname and, connected a billboard supra the building, his likeness.
As the younger Khalaf described it, the concern offers a much comfy situation for radical who are looking to merchantability their valuables, and helium tin analyse their items nether a microscope, amusement them connected a show and explicate what helium sees.
There is nary shortage of gold-buying stores successful Las Vegas. But Alex Khalaf figures the caller spot tin beryllium a bully hedge amid the jittery economy, and helium noted the store is adjacent the tourist-packed Strip and is centrally located for Las Vegas Valley residents.
All told, “we felt similar determination was a higher and amended usage here” than an aged portion club, helium said.
‘Pole Without a Purpose’
Club Platinum was featured connected the world TV amusement “Bar Rescue” successful a 2018 occurrence titled “Pole Without a Purpose.”
In the episode, proprietor Rita Capovilla was filmed saying, “How americium I going to support this nine open? We person nary customers.”
Renae Lemmens, who, according to the show, managed dancers astatine different clubs, scoped retired Club Platinum successful the episode. At 1 point, she remarked astir the walls of a booth, saying it looked similar “somebody threw up connected it.”
Clark County records amusement that Club Platinum went retired of concern past December, conscionable a fewer weeks earlier Capovilla’s merchantability of the gathering to the Khalaf household was completed.
She could not beryllium reached for comment.
As seen past month, Mo Money had golden coins, metallic dollars, watches and different jewelry connected display.
It besides had statues made from spark plugs and different salvaged materials for sale; 2 purple amethysts that some weighed astir 1,000 pounds and outgo $62,500 each; and a brace of hulking “Transformers”-type metallic statues outside.
These are the kinds of eye-catching items that the household sells done their Kalifano retail chain.
Jade sphere from Afghanistan
They person Kalifano stores astatine The Forum Shops astatine Caesars Palace, Grand Canal Shoppes astatine The Venetian, Las Vegas Premium Outlets North and Harry Reid International Airport.
They besides person a determination successful New Jersey that’s slated to adjacent aboriginal adjacent year, Alex Khalaf said.
Their catalog, arsenic seen connected Kalifano’s website, includes a 2,646-pound Brazilian quartz obelisk priced astatine $150,000; a foot-long robust meteorite fragment recovered successful Arizona ($123,200); a 471-pound jade sphere from Afghanistan ($43,000); a 6.5-inch meteorite fragment recovered successful northwest Africa ($14,560); and a megalodon bony from Indonesia ($6,250).
They besides person galore items that aren’t astir arsenic expensive, including crystals astatine $20 to $40 oregon bracelets and necklaces priced astatine $15.
But the pieces that physically basal retired the astir are Kalifano’s metallic artworks.
These see a 26.5-foot Optimus Prime-inspired statue priced astatine $200,000; a 13-foot Predator-inspired portion ($86,400); a astir 9-foot polar carnivore sculpture covered successful spark plugs ($50,000); and a astir 900-pound dragon sculpture ($20,500).
Shipping is escaped connected orders implicit $99.
Global imports
Kalifano is simply a household business. Alex, who grew up successful New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado and moved to Las Vegas immoderate 25 years ago, is president and CEO. His wife, Fahima, who grew up successful California and owns the concern with him, is vice president.
Their 3 big sons besides enactment astatine the company: RJ is manager of operations, Rami is manager of retail operations, and Mo runs the caller store.
So, however bash they adjacent get each this stuff, and who buys it?
Alex Khalaf said the metallic sculptures are made astatine a welding-art workplace successful Thailand, wherever a squad of 30 welders instrumentality discarded car parts, motorcycles, mopeds, forklifts and adjacent airplanes and alteration them into artwork.
The household is simply a spouse successful the studio, has made a “sizable” concern successful it and handles its worldwide distribution, helium said.
He besides said helium sources items from quarries successful Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil and different countries and has been exhibiting for decades astatine the Tucson Gem Show successful Arizona.
Plus, helium was nary alien to the manufacture from the get-go. He said that his father, Rafat “Ralph” Khalaf, owned a jewelry store successful Aspen, Colorado, and carried immoderate crystals and fossils.
Kalifano’s customers see shopping-center owners and water-park operators who bargain pieces to decorate their properties, arsenic good arsenic affluent individuals who enactment the items successful location theaters oregon successful garages with their car collections.
But not everyone who pays a jaw-dropping terms for an point adjacent wants it close away.
As seen precocious astatine the Kalifano store successful the Forum Shops, a $100,000 megalodon jaw hanging from the ceiling was sold past autumn — but the retailer was inactive waiting for the purchaser to springiness the greenish airy to vessel it.
Contact Eli Segall astatine esegall@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0342.
English (US)·