Coquitlam's casino known as Hard Rock Casino Vancouver is set to rebrand as Great Canadian Casino Vancouver, starting in December.
Great Canadian Entertainment, which owns the casino and was known as Great Canadian Gaming until the company rebranded last year, has operated the facility since it opened in 2001 as Boulevard Casino.
Great Canadian then in 2013 struck a licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which was an affiliate of Brookfield Property Partners, and changed the name of the site to Hard Rock Casino Vancouver.
Great Canadian's spokesperson, Naomi Strasser, told BIV that the licensing agreement is ending.
Alongside the renaming is a refresh for the venue that Great Canadian in a press release described as a "metamorphosis."
Great Canadian plans to open a casual restaurant called Gordon Ramsay Burger, which will be run under standards set by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay and is set to open in December. Strasser said she did not know if Ramsay would appear in person to open the restaurant.
She added that Great Canadian will open a second Gordon Ramsay-branded restaurant in B.C. – the higher-end Gordon Ramsay Steak at River Rock Casino, in Richmond, in 2024.
Another component of the company's Coquitlam casino's rebranding is that it is bringing in Live Nation Canada to be responsible for programming entertainment at the venue's theatre. Strasser said she did not know if there would be any change to the name of that theatre, which is now called Show Theatre and was previously known as the Red Robinson Theatre.
There is no plan to rebrand River Rock Casino, Strasser said.
The last time Great Canadian rebranded its Coquitlam casino, it spent $15 million on redesigning and renovating the venue. It is not clear how much the company plans to spend this time in its effort to refresh the venue and give patrons the feeling of being in a new space.
Back in 2014, Chuck Keeling, then Great Canadian's executive director and now an executive vice-president, described the Coquitlam casino's rebranding as an "almost rebirth."
This time around, the company's CEO Matthew Anfinson described the casino's evolution as being an "exciting transformation" and he said that the venue is "entering a new era of excitement and entertainment."
Afinson added: "Our partnerships with chef Gordon Ramsay and Live Nation Canada promise to bring an unparalleled level of culinary excellence and world-class entertainment to our valued guests. We believe that this transition represents not only a change in name but a significant opportunity to enhance the overall experience."
