US cardmaker shows hand with plan for two factories
US playing card producer Gemaco is preparing to open two factories in Macau, its first overseas manufacturing outpost.
Gemaco is a top supplier of playing cards and felt gaming table tops to the Sands Macau casino. The Sands is the world's largest consumer of cards, thanks to the popularity of baccarat in the territory since cards have to be discarded after each hand because of Chinese players' habit of bending dealt cards to peek at the faces.
Even the felt tops last no more than four months due to cigarette burns, spilt drinks and other wear and tear.
Emily Io, senior manager for Asia-Pacific marketing and sales, said the printing of felt table tops should start by June in a 6,200-square-foot plant Gemaco is setting up in an industrial building on Taipa island.
By early next year, Gemaco expects to open a second, 3,000 sq ft plant in a building the government is constructing in the new Zhuhai-Macau Cross-Border Industrial Zone going up along Macau's northern frontier. Gemaco is so far the only gaming company set to enter the zone, which will largely be occupied by textile producers.
Io said Gemaco will employ 15 to 20 people in the SAR and she expects to recruit some workers from the mainland.
She could not provide a figure for Gemaco's investment in the two plants.
Io said the Taipa plant will be used primarily for warehousing cards once the second plant opens.
Gemaco hopes to sell the Sands and its competitors on the idea of hiring Gemaco to handle their card inventory. Given efforts by the Sands' management to squeeze tables and slot machines into every available crevice, she believes the casino will then turn storage rooms into gaming parlors.
Io said that if Gemaco establishes sufficiently secure operations in Macau, the company may begin production of playing cards in the territory.
Gemaco already sells to some casinos in South Korea, but Io said she will be targeting that market further as well as looking to sign up casinos in Malaysia, Australia and on cruise ships.
Gemaco found its place in the Sands due to its status as a supplier of its sister casino, the Venetian in Las Vegas.
Io said that while the Sands relies on synthetic-fiber table tops, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau's casinos use wool ones in the belief that customers will see them as more luxurious.
Gemaco produces both types.
Gemaco also uses different types of cards for different games. Baccarat cards are made from lighter paper so they can be folded more easily; blackjack cards are firmer and smoother.
Io said that in Macau producers compete especially on their ability to make humidity-resistant cards that will stay flat on tables once dealt.
