South Florida Business Journal articles from July 1997

South Florida Business Journal archives from July 1997

Virgin wants theater at City Palace. (Virgin Entertainment)
July 25, 1997... West Palm Beach deal may include Virgin Megastore, too With plans for a Virgin Cinema in Miami Beach on hold, British billionaire Richard Branson is eyeing another South Florida location for his flashy brand of movie theaters: The new...

Precision revenue up, stock lagging. (Precision Response Corp.)
July 25, 1997... What does David Epstein, president of Miami-based Precision Response Corp., do when he has a problem with his Direct TV satellite dish? "I pick up the phone and call the 1800 help line, just like anyone else," said Epstein. The operator...

Car crazy. (Eastern European Imports)
July 25, 1997... Importing a Romanian sport utility vehicle isn't as easy - or as sane - as John Perez thought Ask John Perez what it takes to import a Romanian sport utility vehicle and he'll say you'd better be stubborn - or crazy. Perez is a Miami auto...

Jai alai's big gamble. (opening of casinos by jai-alai fronton owners)
July 25, 1997... Flagging frontons deal up poker rooms Before Dania Jai-Alai opened its poker room, Lionel and Lorraine Socolov almost never visited the fronton. But since the gambling facility began promoting its card tables last month, the retired couple...

Entrepreneur Anita Landis took Creative Communications to the next level - by selling it. (Creative Communications Advantage Inc.)(Interview)
July 25, 1997... Boca Raton-based Creative Communications Advantage Inc. is merging with J. Walter Thompson Specialized Communications of Dallas, a diversified $200 million communications agency with 23 offices around the country. Creative Communications...

Attorney General aiming to sink day-cruise slot machines. (law against slot machines in day-cruise boats)
July 25, 1997... South Florida day-cruise operators say the stakes are high in Attorney General Bob Butterworth's legal gamble to enforce a 1937 law banning slot machines from the popular "cruise to nowhere" boats. Butterworth filed a lawsuit earlier this...

Beachdogs change prices, perks to boost ticket sales. (minor-league basketball team Florida Beachdogs)
July 25, 1997... The Florida Beachdogs - the minor-league basketball team that boasts stellar on-court performance but suffers lackluster fan support - is cutting ticket prices and boosting fan perks. Since moving to West Palm Beach from North Dakota two...

Rainbow Medical readies IPO to take on practice management rivals. (Rainbow Medical Inc.'s initial public offering)
July 25, 1997... MIAMI - With $2.5 million raised in a private placement and six practices under the Rainbow Medical Inc. moniker, Drs. Hugo Goldstraj and Robert Novo are getting ready to take their three-year-old company public. Rainbow has engaged M.H....

New magazine for 'regular people.' (INdepth Magazine)
July 25, 1997... When Arthur Pearson decided to launch a new magazine, he didn't call a high-priced consultant to tell him how. He called journalists, and then headed to the grocery store to conduct some market research of his own. The result of his research...

Proxy abuse has SEC aiming to close shareholder loophole.
July 25, 1997... WASHINGTON - The Securities & Exchange Commission plans to recommend major changes to shareholders' relationships with company management. With the booming stock market spawning millions of new shareholders, the SEC wants to make sure...

New breed of home builders mix luxury and high volume.
July 25, 1997... The model homes are two counties apart, but the similarities are striking. At The Preserve in Boca Raton, Philadelphia builder Toll Brothers offers verdant courtyards, towering ceilings and extravagant bathrooms. At Golden Gate Estates in...

New name and new tenant at Blockbuster Plaza. (Republic Industries)
July 25, 1997... The street sign still says Blockbuster Plaza, but it will soon suffer the fate of its namesake, the Blockbuster Corp. It will be a Fort Lauderdale memory. The street sign will bear an old name, Southeast Second Street, within two months....

Goodkin the guru. (Goodkin Research Corp. pres. and chief executive officer Lewis Goodkin)(Real Estate Monthly)
July 25, 1997... Before they draw up blueprints, builders first draw on the valued advice of real estate researcher Lewis Goodkin How to succeed in real estate development? The answer - or rather, answers - often come from Lewis Goodkin, president and chief...

Market diversity helps Engle Homes build success. (Engle Homes Inc.)(Real Estate Monthly)
July 25, 1997... Alec Engelstein's favorite expression is, "When in Rome, do as the Romanians do." Engelstein, chairman, president, and CEO of Engle Homes Inc., was born in Romania in 1930 but lived in Rome until he moved to Canada at the age of 18. So when...

Why corporation shouldn't own real estate.(Real Estate Monthly)
July 25, 1997... To own or not to own? There is a really simple answer. Don't own real estate unless you are able to manage it. Take Marriott Hotels - a company that by the nature of its business must own substantial real estate worldwide. Marriott realized...

The hidden costs of securitized mortgage financing.(Real Estate Monthly)
July 25, 1997... A dramatic shift in sources of permanent financing for commercial properties has occurred. Many traditional lenders have exited the market while non-traditional lenders, with more ties to Wall Street than to commercial real estate lending, have...

Consider FHA loans for financing apartments and healthcare facilities. (Federal Housing Administration)(Real Estate Monthly)
July 25, 1997... Recent volatility in the commercial loan market, while certainly not yet dampening local development and refinancing activity to any great extent, has engendered among commercial property owners and developers an even healthier respect for the...

Principle before policy - the new rules for customer service.(Small Business Strategies)
July 25, 1997... Editor's note: This is the second part of a two-part article. Effective customer service is easier to perform than ineffective customer service. But judging by the way most companies deliver customer service, you'd never know it. Why? Lots...

It's about time. (launching of a medical information card)(Small Business Strategies)
July 25, 1997... New EMIT card gives access to medical information anywhere, anytime Imagine you're on vacation and you get into a car wreck. You end up on a stretcher in an emergency room, trying to answer questions about your medical history. Dazed and...

The best way to teach responsibility is to delegate it. (family business management)(Small Business Strategies)
July 25, 1997... For the senior owners of a family business, one of the most crucial aspects of transferring ownership and management to the successor generation is delegating management authority. That's a great way to give younger family members the concrete...

Hanging up his guns. (Al Dunlap's rescue of Sunbeam Corp.)
July 18, 1997... Considering that Al Dunlap takes pride in 100-hour work weeks, it's no surprise that he won't spend much time celebrating his one-year anniversary at Sunbeam Corp. "How will I celebrate?" he asked. "I'll probably take a deep breath." But...

Airline flies from slammed doors to profitable skies. (Panagra Airways)
July 18, 1997... When Jim Peabody was trying to launch a charter airline from the den of his Fort Lauderdale home, the former airline pilot found few investors willing to take a chance on his project. "Essentially we just knocked on doors and said, 'How would...

Suvannah Foods - Florida Crystals merger puts Palm Beach sugar growers in driver's seat. (Savannah Foods and Industries Inc.)(interview with Florida Crystals Inc. Chmn. and CEO Alfonso Fanjul)(Interview)
July 18, 1997... Georgia-based Savannah Foods & Industries Inc. (NYSE: SFI) struck a deal this week to merge with privately held Florida Crystals Inc. of Palm Beach, which represents the Florida holdings of the Flo-Sun Inc., which is owned by the Fanjul family....

IBM aura helping to lure new tenants to 565-acre. (former IBM complex in Boca Raton, FL)
July 18, 1997... There's a rule around the Stoltz Bros. Florida office in Boca Raton: Call it the IBM complex and it'll cost you a buck. The complex's new owners, a five-member partnership that includes Stoltz Bros. chieftain Skip Stoltz, renamed the property...

Would-be cafe chain aims for the stars and beyond; entrepreneur hopes ultimate Science Fiction Cafes will cash in on outer space. (Mark Williams of InnoPet Brands)
July 18, 1997... In a summer filled with space exploration both real and fictional, a South Florida man is planning the launch of what he hopes will be the next big thing in theme restaurants: The Ultimate Science Fiction Cafe. Mark Williams, an entrepreneur...

Corporate downsizings send marketing firm's revenue up. (InterMedia)(Company Profile)
July 18, 1997... Lauderdale Small Business Leader says cutbacks increase demand for InterMedia's full-service menu FORT LAUDERDALE - Five years after selling her house and emptying her bank account to start her own marketing company, Christine Madsen thinks...

State spending $15M to help poor drop-outs from Medicaid HMOs.... (Florida; health maintenance organizations)
July 18, 1997... More than 60,000 Floridians have dropped out of their Medicaid health maintenance organizations in the last six months - prompting state officials to set aside $15 million to help Medicaid recipients choose an HMO they can stick with. This...

While study finds Medicare HMOs profit on the 'death spiral' of elderly drop-outs. (health maintenance organizations)
July 18, 1997... South Florida's Medicare HMOs are a "revolving door" with sicker patients opting out and healthier patients staying in. The result: a loss of savings that managed care organizations claim they bring to the Medicare system. That's the finding...

Delray Beach company pitches dry-cleaning superstores. (Neighborhood Dry Cleaning Co.)(Small Business Strategies)
July 18, 1997... But the price is steep for these business opportunities' A small business owner looking for steady profits could do worse than operating a dry-cleaning shop. It's a cash business, profit margins are generally healthy and labor costs are...

Showbiz booms - up 50% on Miami Beach; entertainment liaison says city's new study will survey 150 businesses.
July 11, 1997... The number of entertainment businesses flocking to Miami Beach has increased by 50 percent during the past two years, according to a recently released city study, using figures from fiscal year 1994-95. Dennis Leyva, Miami Beach's music and...

Boca's PC Professor launching first computer-training franchise.
July 11, 1997... Before he became the first franchisee for Boca Raton-based PC Professor, Allen Reback managed several car dealerships. He was the guy you called when you got really fed up with your mechanic. "Basically, I got yelled at by customers from the...

Parkway hospitals merging; Tenet says area has too many beds, too few patients. (Golden Glades Regional Medical Center)
July 11, 1997... NORTH MIAMI BEACH - In July 1994, OrNda Health Corp. prescribed a megadose of marketing and a $5 million renovation for the ailing Golden Glades Regional Medical Center. Three years later, the patient is dead. Tenet HealthSystem of South...

New tax credit aimed at crime.
July 11, 1997... They say crime doesn't pay. But for South Florida businesses operating in high-crime areas, it could. The Legislature passed a new tax credit allowing businesses to collect when they create jobs in areas with high crime rates. The program...

EEOC case against Joe's Stone Crab cracks open questions about unintentional discrimination in hiring. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)(Interview)
July 11, 1997... Say it ain't so, Joe's! We thought the only discrimination at Joe's Stone Crab applied to lousy tippers, but a suit won last week by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found the Miami Beach landmark was unintentionally hiring...

Ruling could cut referrals to group practices.
July 11, 1997... Group medical practices that offer MRI and other designated health services could lose a lot of business under an appeals court ruling. The decision by the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee prohibits doctors outside of a group...

Hot market has Clinton Group selling for cold cash; firm puts Class B offices on the block, saying market has nearly peaked.
July 11, 1997... After buying up big chunks of property during the real estate downturn of the early '90s, Clinton International Group hopes to sell parts of its portfolio. The rationale, according to Clinton International principal Stewart Marcus: The real...

HMO pressures prompting doctors to weigh unionizing. (health maintenance organizations)
July 11, 1997... Facing financial pressures from all directions, many of Florida's 42,000 physicians soon may do something they once thought unthinkable - organize into negotiating units to get more money from managed care companies. FMA officials make it...

HMOs moving back toward fee-for-service. (health maintenance organizations)
July 11, 1997... Patient demand for more choice drives move away from capitation Once a nationally-heralded solution to rising health care costs, capitation is being shoved aside in some parts of Florida in favor of fee-for-service. "The pendulum is...

Congress ready to pour money into SBA programs. (Small Business Administration)
July 11, 1997... WASHINGTON - Congress is ready to pour additional money into small-business loans, development centers and technical assistance for needy entrepreneurs. Last week, the Senate Small Business Committee approved a small business reauthorization...

Palm Beach business incubator has ambitious growth plan.
July 11, 1997... In its mission to grow small businesses, the Center for Technology, Enterprise & Development in Delray Beach is hitting a growth spurt of its own. Fertilized by the spirit of entrepreneurship and a healthy dose of corporate sponsors and tax...

Study: consolidation doesn't necessarily mean integration.(Column)
July 11, 1997... While Dade County has realized a "pattern of rapid acquisition and system building" there has been no "true meshing" of hospital operations within those systems. That's just one of the findings of a newly released study that looks at Miami...

Nightmare on Ocean Drive: parking for the Winnebagos.
July 11, 1997... It's tough enough to find parking for your tiny compact on South Beach Saturday night. So just imagine the nightmare of parking a Winnebago full of bagels and make-up for the crew of a fast-shooting feature film somewhere along Ocean Drive....

To have and have knots. (Waterbury Rope Mills)(Small Business Strategies)
July 11, 1997... It's a Wednesday afternoon in Connecticut and a troop of Boy Scouts is in a panic. The scouts are going on a camping trip in two days and need some essential supplies, so their troop leader makes a few phone calls. On the same Wednesday in...

A media conglomerate in Marlins' future? (Florida Marlins corporate cross marketing)
July 4, 1997... 'Wave of the future' has Home Shopping Network mulling bid Sports analyst Paul Much visits Disney's teams in Southern California and sees in action the concepts that may define the future of the Florida Marlins - and perhaps all pro sports....

In the money: feds sent $856M more here in '96. (money from federal contracts obtained by South Florida congressional districts)
July 4, 1997... All but two South Florida congressional districts got less money from federal contracts in 1996 than in 1995, according to federal documents analyzed for South Florida Business Journal. But the two districts that got more, got a lot more -...

Giving up on journalism's guinea pig. (Knight-Ridder Inc. gave up Boca Raton News)
July 4, 1997... Miami's Knight-Ridder chain quitting Boca Raton News Reporter Kim Miller remembers how Knight-Ridder Inc. lowered the boom. Corporate suits from the company's Miami hub "dropped the bomb and left." The June 20 announcement that the Boca...

From pigskin to beefsteak. (Don Shula's Steak Houses Inc.)
July 4, 1997... Football coach Dave Shula follows his famous dad in trading the gridiron for the Shula's Steak House griddle MIAMI LAKES - Fifteen years ago, Dave Shula followed his father into a career as a football coach. This year, he left the sport to...

Office Depot/Staples merger unglued. (Office Depot Inc.;Staples Inc.)
July 4, 1997... Analysts say Office Depot has some catching up to do Editor's note: In the wake of a federal judge's ruling that effectively killed the proposed merger between the office supply giants, here's some of what was reported from news organizations...

Fort Lauderdale computes for CyberGuard - firm staying put. (Cyberguard Corp.)
July 4, 1997... Software company had been looking in Margate and Pompano After eyeing office space in Margate and Pompano Beach, a Fort Lauderdale tech firm decided to stay in town. CyberGuard, a start-up that makes network security software, signed a...

Orlando insurer may rescue ailing Sunrise Healthcare. (Sunrise Healthcare Plan Inc.)
July 4, 1997... Facing state receivership, Sunrise Healthcare Plan Inc. in Fort Lauderdale is hoping an Orlando insurer win bail out the plan. According to the Florida Department of Insurance, Sunrise is negotiating with American Pioneer Life Insurance Co....

Judge tells agency: don't be a heel to podiatrists. (foot doctors forced to repay Medicare fees)
July 4, 1997... Florida foot doctors get reprieve in repaying Medicare money A group of Florida foot doctors who claim the federal government is unfairly forcing them to repay millions of dollars in Medicare fees is getting some relief. A U.S. District...

South Florida firms keep on growing - right on to Business Week's hot 100. (fast growing South Florida businesses)
July 4, 1997... Explosive growth for three very different companies grabs magazine's attention Three South Florida businesses are among the fastest growing in the nation, according to Business Week's recent list of "100 hot growth companies" with annual...

Burger King and Arby's high on the top 100 restaurant list. (South Florida restaurant companies)
July 4, 1997... Two South Florida companies - Miami-based Burger King and Fort Lauderdale-based Arby's - found a place among this year's Top 100 restaurant chains in the latest rankings by the trade journal Nation's Restaurant News. Burger King, a division...

Sales fly the coop for S. Fla. chicken chains. (South Florida chicken chains did not make it to top 100 list)
July 4, 1997... One South Florida company that didn't make the Top 100 lists but did get a mention in the accompanying analysis was the once hot chicken chain Kenny Rogers Roasters. The Fort Lauderdale-based company, which continues to suffer tremendous...

New health care regs go into effect this week. (health care related laws)(Health Care Monthly)
July 4, 1997... This is the week several of Florida's new and more controversial health care related laws take effect. Starting Tuesday, HMO patients no longer need to get a referral from their primary care doc to see a dermatologist. However, the law does...

Weighing Wayne's numbers: analysts say fat payroll means Marlins really are losing big bucks. (Wayne Huizenga; Florida Marlins)
July 4, 1997... Will Wayne Huizenga really lose $30 million this year on the Florida Marlins? Since Huizenga won't show his books to the public, no one can say for sure. But even the magazine that says the Marlins operating income was in the black last year...

Facing a new reality. (new health care regulations)(Health Care Monthly)
July 4, 1997... Dermatologists praise new rules that let HMO patients see skin specialists on their own, but health insurers say it's an expensive loophole that can hike costs for patients and employers as it leaves HMOs Greater convenience for patients,...

New ADA rules on the emotional disabilities can be confusing. (Americans With Disabilities Act)(Health Care Monthly)
July 4, 1997... All workplace legislation is aimed at making the job environment more efficient, productive and equitable. The Americans With Disabilities Act is proving to be as effective and far-reaching as its predecessors - child labor, civil rights and...

New fidelity bond law will cost IPAs and networks. (IPAs and networks required to obtain a $10 million fidelity bond)
July 4, 1997... A new law passed by 1997 Florida Legislature will significantly impact most IPAs and networks by requiring them to obtain a $10 million fidelity bond. Since most IPAs and networks are thinly capitalized, the $5,000 to $10,000 cost of the...

If you don't watch out, COBRA might bite your business. (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985)(Health Care Monthly)
July 4, 1997... Beware! If this COBRA strikes, its bite could kill your business. The federal law called the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, commonly known as (COBRA), provides that group health plans with more than 20 eligible...

The right ingredients. (Try My Thai restaurant)(Small Business Strategies)
July 4, 1997... Try My Thai owners credit luck, timing and good food HOLLYWOOD - When Andrew and Phonethip Vaz opened the Try My Thai restaurant in downtown Hollywood four years ago, their staffing philosophy could best be described as minimalist. So on...