South Florida Business Journal articles from December 1997

South Florida Business Journal archives from December 1997

Expert's comeback comes out at Comdex. (Expert Software; Comdex/Miami technology trade show)
December 5, 1997... It didn't take long for Expert Software to realize the marketing and sales benefits of the annual Comdex/Miami technology trade show. At the show's inaugural gathering last year. the Coral Gables software maker presented fewer than a dozen...

Big ideas, bigger lawsuits: partners are building cases, not Commerce Center. (Broward International Commerce Center)
December 5, 1997... By all accounts, Broward International Commerce Center should have been a home run. Instead. a legal battle has turned the 25-acre warehouse development into a weak ground ball. The Dania industrial park is bogged down by feuding partners...

Blues club gets new owners, new name - and new rock sound, too: Delray Cigar Club owner and partners paying $1.2 million for failed Musician's Exchange.
December 5, 1997... Delray Cigar Club owner and partners paying $1.2 million for failed Musician's Exchange The failed Musicians Exchange in Delray Beach could soon be rockin' again - under a new name and to a different beat. A group of Palm Beach County...

Buyout has the 'King of Trade' cashing in: no. 2 ranking in Hispanic Business follows $18.5 mil buyout for Francisco Victoria and his Microretailing Inc.
December 5, 1997... No. 2 ranking in Hispanic Business follows $18.5 million buyout for Francisco Victoria and his Microretailing Inc. It has been a dizzying few weeks for Francisco Victoria. He is hailed as the "King of Trade" in the current issue of Hispanic...

Doctor's recipe for bread company - lots of dough: Boca Raton gynecologist's Old School Bread Co. rises in downtown Delray Beach. (Dr. Larry Charme)
December 5, 1997... Boca Raton gynecologist's Old School Bread Co. rises in downtown Delray Beach Bakers say the recipe for making bread is simple, involving little more than flour, salt and water. But the recipe for making the Old School Bread Co. rise from a...

Shades of the future? Instant prescription sunglass chain has opened two test stores in Miami. (Instant Eyeglasses)
December 5, 1997... Strollers along Coconut Grove's trendy Main Highway have no trouble finding sunglasses among the street's chic clothing stores and specialty shops. No trouble, that is, unless they needed prescription shades in a hurry. Instant Eyeglasses...

Pampered patients: from lobster dinners and ocean views to designer robes and toenail polish, more South Florida hospitals are offering luxury suites - for a price.(Health Care Monthly)
December 5, 1997... Rising expectations among well-heeled patients have hospitals across South Florida stocking up on lobster dinners, designer robes and toenail polish. Hospital administrators say that while such luxuries can help bring in ill foreigners and...

Women's work: two Coral Gables women have carved their marketing firm's niche in the macho world of selling cigars and tools to Latin America. (Axiss Advertising and Design co-founders Lexi Segre and Lilian Soeda)(Small Business Strategies)(Company Profile)
December 5, 1997... Working from a cramped, two-office suite in Coral Gables, two women have carved themselves an unlikely niche in a competitive advertising arena: cigars and tools. Three years ago, Lexi Segre and Lilian Soeda were handed two accounts focusing...

Spanish-speaking workers in short supply: Spanglish doesn't cut it in Latin America.
December 12, 1997... There aren't enough bilingual people in Miami-Dade to supply the area's top businesses with employees who can deal with the growing Latin American market. To anyone familiar with the Miami area, that may sound like an absurd notion. But...

Health Trust set to start Jackson South. (Miami-Dade Public Health Trust to make 'Jackson South' hospital from Columbia Deering Hospital)
December 12, 1997... After years of negotiation, Miami-Dade's Public Health Trust is finalizing details to make a "Jackson South" public medical center out of Columbia Deering Hospital, Trust President Ira C. Clark said this week. The deal, which he predicted will...

Faltering Oriole plans turnaround. (Oriole Homes Corp.)
December 12, 1997... Call it a kinder, gentler Oriole Homes Corp. Seeking to recapture its market share and bolster the bottom line, Oriole Homes in Delray Beach is rolling out a $3 million public relations and marketing campaign. The idea, said Mark Levy,...

Beer beginnings, champagne successes: two college buddies learn to build a construction company one brick at a time. (Shakman Construction co-founders Michael Goldman and John Cahorshak)(Small Business Strategies)
December 12, 1997... The co-founders of Shakman Construction have learned to measure success by the size of their celebrations. Take their big break, which came in late 1996. After surviving on small tenant improvement jobs in the $150,000 range for five years, the...

Developer plans more Weston Class A space. (Developer Craig Weiner)
December 12, 1997... His first project filled up, so Craig Weiner plans another 85,0000-square-foot building Developer Craig Weiner quickly filled Weston's first Class A offices. Now Weiner plans a second building at Weston Corporate Center. The...

$2 million tourism ad campaign debuts: nostalgic spots are first effort for new public-private Visit Florida tourism agency.
December 12, 1997... Nostalgic spots are first effort for new public-private Visit Florida tourism agency The state's tourism agency has commissioned a new ad campaign designed to tug people into Florida by their heartstrings. Visit Florida, the public-private...

New tax laws and technology are boosting barter business.
December 12, 1997... More firms are filling the niche by brokering trade deals for businesses A few days before Thanksgiving, North Miami Beach computer consultant Dan Kurzweil decided he wanted to take his family to Disney World. He called his trade broker "and...

New double-speed modem unveiled by Boca Research: Dynamic Duo combines two modems for 112 kbps transfer rates - and ends home phone hangups.
December 12, 1997... Internet users rejoice. Boca Research has a new product that cures that annoying problem known as the Internet hang-up blues. You know the scenario: You're just about to download a huge document when the call waiting on your phone beeps and...

Hospital's empty beds may go to nursing home: Columbia Pompano may lease space to John Knox Village across the street. (Columbia Pompano Beach Medical Center)
December 12, 1997... Patient rooms at Columbia Pompano Beach Medical Center may be converted into a nursing home facility as part of plans to transform the rest of the hospital into an outpatient center. Columbia officials said they are considering leasing the...

HMOs wary of elder-care program. (health maintenance organizations)
December 19, 1997... Palm Beach County managed care companies have been surprisingly reluctant to join a demonstration project that could lead to more affordable health care for Florida's elderly population. In the four months since the state Department of Elder...

Aviation HQ may spark city's revival. (building of Aeroservice Aviation Center's headquarters at Virginia Gardens, Miami-Dade, Florida)
December 19, 1997... Slightly more than half a square mile in size, the city of Virginia Gardens is relying on the construction of a world-class, 64,000 square-foot aviation training facility to spur its economic revitalization. One of Miami-Dade County's smallest...

Federal loan nay spark film industry. (project of PostUrban Productions)
December 19, 1997... Partners say deal would create hundreds of film production jobs With the help of federal money and the backing of county officials, three partners are planning to create a "self-sustained" independent film industry in Miami-Dade that will...

Citrix stands firm. (Citrix Systems Inc.)
December 19, 1997... Going toe-to-toe with Microsoft built reputation, prospects What a difference a year can make in the volatile world of high tech stocks. After experiencing a 12-month topsy-turvy odyssey that saw its stock price tumble from $40 to $9.75,...

Real healthy competition. (Capacitated Health Care Services Inc.)(Company Profile)
December 19, 1997... Capitated Health Care Services has 17,000 different care providers all angling for a share of the same home-care business Pessimists call it a collision course: baby boomers entering retirement at the same time medical spending is being slashed...

TriCounty Courier has Santa making deliveries a little early this year. (interview with TriCounty Courier Services Vice Pres and COO Sergio E. Calzado, Jr.)(Interview)
December 19, 1997... Every year about this time, retailers make service providers look like Scrooges. No surprise there: Service-oriented companies rely less on December revenues than gift shops that feel obligated to frost-paint yuletide icons on their store...

Maybe four is the charm for Boca restaurant spot. (Tony Bova's Mario's at Boca Raton, Florida)
December 19, 1997... After three flops in the same spot, Mario's tries its luck at Glades and Dixie First it was a rib joint, then a diner, then a fish shack. Now, after a $1.1 million dollar overhaul, the 90-seat restaurant at Glades Road and Dixie Highway is the...

Swerdlow challenges $1.28 million verdict. (Michel Swerdlow Cos. filed motions to overturn jury verdict awarding Capital Asset Research Corp. $1.28 million in damages)
December 19, 1997... Jury found developer reneged on deal to lease Phillips Point office space Capital Asset Research Corp. wanted it. Michael Swerdlow Cos. had it. Slim Fast got it. And so goes a three-year-old lawsuit over 15,000-square-feet of class A office...

It's official: first year 2000 class action lawsuit is filed. (Atlas International is suing Software Business Technologies)
December 19, 1997... Potential landmark case focuses on whether business should get free upgrades A small New York computer equipment seller has filed the first class-action lawsuit that involves the reprogramming of computers for Year 2000. Atlaz International...