Route 91 vendors can’t retrieve goods at Las Vegas shooting scene
A court order has been blamed for keeping Route 91 Harvest festival vendors from retrieving equipment and merchandise left at MGM Resorts International’s concert venue during the panic of the Strip shooting.
About 20 vendors were on-site when the shooting started at the country music festival. They have said those items are their livelihood and business has suffered without them.
In an Oct. 23 email to all Route 91 Harvest festival vendors, Live Nation Chief Human Resources Officer Nadia Rawlinson said her company mailed checks to refund all vendor booth fees on Oct. 18. She added that the promoter was following the lead of the FBI and MGM Resorts on opening the venue to vendors.
“We hope some of the funds can be used to help alleviate the frustration in not having your goods and cover any other expenses you may have resulting from this event,” she said.
Even with the refunds, some vendors remain frustrated. Heather Sallan of Reno, who sells covers for boots under the BootRoxx brand, said she received a $1,500 booth space refund. However, she said her boots and other handmade leather goods are still in a booth at the Las Vegas Village venue, plus about $5,000 in cash from sales.
She has emailed Live Nation, the state attorney general’s office and law enforcement agencies, but has received no timeline for when she can retrieve her goods.
“My life is stuck at Route 91,” she said. “It is unfinished business to me. I don’t get to move on.”
Julie Craig was at the festival for three days with her extended country music family, selling her “countryfied” merchandise — handmade cow skulls and signs.
“Everything we own is still there,” she said. “We’re so frustrated. We so badly want to move on emotionally, but we can’t without our merchandise.”
A family friend showed up to her booth only 15 minutes before the shooting to help tear it down.
“We ran when we realized what it was,” said Craig, a Norco, California, resident. “We hid in the back and 20 people just jumped on top of us. We all thought he was on foot. We all thought we were going to die.”
Craig remained in Las Vegas for a few days after the shooting, hopeful that she would be able to collect her items. But she left town Oct. 4 without her truck or trailer, and without $8,000 to $12,000 in merchandise. Craig also had 15 to 20 orders ready to ship out to customers who were at the concert.
“Our stuff is just rotting there,” she said.
Craig said she still has no answers about retrieving her goods, but has found comfort in her clientele. When she returned home, she found 12 voicemails from customers checking in to see if she was safe.
“It’s amazing,” Craig said. “The feeling was unbelievable. My husband and I both broke down. This is how the country music family is.”
Contact Wade Tyler Millward at wmillward@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4602. Follow @wademillward on Twitter. Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.
