South Florida Business Journal articles from May 1996

South Florida Business Journal archives from May 1996

The price is right: Chase sells to Nations. (Chase Federal Bank F.S.B.; NationsBank Corp.)
May 3, 1996... MIAMI - Surprising some industry observers, Chase Federal Bank is being bought by NationsBank for $280 million, or $5.24 per share. The surprise seems to be in the timing, not the sale. One analyst said he thought Chase would continue to grow...

Mortgage bankers eye co-op.
May 3, 1996... Lenders plan to tap South Florida market MIAMI BEACH - When John Miller and Petra Hedman-Miller bought their co-op apartment on Washington Avenue four years ago, they were forced to finance the purchase through the unit's seller. The reason:...

CoreStates to open Miami office. (CoreStates Bank International)
May 3, 1996... MIAMI - Looking to boost its Latin American business, CoreStates Bank International has applied to open an office in Miami. A subsidiary of CoreStates Bank, the Philadelphia superregional, expects approval for an Edge Act Corp. by June....

Florida HMO execs took home millions in '95. (health maintenance organizations)
May 3, 1996... Executives of 32 Florida health maintenance organizations, including several South Florida HMO officers, took home 1995 compensation packages worth tens of millions of dollars, according to newly-available state records. The numbers could...

Artist turns back pain into a $7 million business. (Michael F. Cox)
May 3, 1996... What would you do if you were lifting something heavy and suddenly heard a series of cracks accompanied by burst of pain through your back so terrible that it left you writhing on the floor? If you're Michael F. Cox, an inventor and artist,...

Network offers pager, phone in one unit. (Geotek Communications Inc.)
May 3, 1996... MIAMI - A national technology company is rolling out a digital communications network that will offer one-stop shopping for South Florida companies that need to communicate with mobile workers. Geotek Communications Inc. says its South Florida...

Margate shop is building business on-line. (Sandy's Mastectomy Boutique)
May 3, 1996... Web page gets 1,000 hits a week MARGATE - A woman from Connecticut writes, "I was always so afraid to go get a prostheses, and this made it so much easier. I don't know why I never thought to look on the Internet before." Another woman from...

Homestead Village to open hotels in W. Dade, Tamarac.
May 3, 1996... Yet another chain in the hot extended-stay hotel market is staking its claim in South Florida. Homestead Village, an Atlanta-based chain with 52 properties in six states, will start construction this month on its first two Florida hotels in...

Westinghouse moves westward. (Westinghouse Audio Intelligence Devices relocates to Corporate Park in Coral Springs)
May 10, 1996... CORAL SPRINGS - The promise of new office space with a cheap lease and plenty of municipal perks has lured a 140-employee division of Westinghouse Electric from Cypress Creek Road to the Corporate Park of Coral Springs. Westinghouse Audio...

Reynolds Studios adds production space. (Burt Reynolds Ranch Studios)
May 10, 1996... JUPITER - Amid the peacocks, lakes and soundstages, Burt Reynolds Ranch Studios plans to construct a 15,000 square-foot office building that would accommodate the growing production community. The new building is scheduled to be complete within...

Embers, Granny's don't cut it: Lincoln Road to get new offerings. (Miami Beach's The Embers and Granny Feelgood's)
May 10, 1996... MIAMI BEACH -The tale of two closed restaurants on Lincoln Road reads something like a soap opera. The Embers, a reincarnated version of a '40s-era Miami Beach hotspot, shut its doors in April after 15 months and several attempts at revamping....

Dealers to start auto finance firm. (First Financial Acceptance)(Company Profile)
May 10, 1996... FORT LAUDERDALE - More than a dozen car dealers in the Southeast are taking control of their financial futures, forming a company to finance their used car sales to customers with less than sterling credit records. While everybody and their...

Fidelity Federal forms holding company for flexibility. (Fidelity Federal Savings Bank of Florida to form Fidelity Bankshares Inc.)
May 10, 1996... In what it says is the first deal of its kind, Fidelity Federal Savings Bank of Florida is reorganizing into a two-tier mutual holding company structure. Executives said the reorganization will give the company more flexibility for acquisitions,...

Laser company is latest entry into the consolidation arena. (Physicians Laser Services)
May 17, 1996... BOCA RATON - There's a new entry into South Florida's health care consolidation arena - mobile laser surgery companies. Physicians Laser Services, a year-old Boca Raton-based company that provides daily rental of mobile lasers used by plastic...

Subprime biz draws traffic. (subprime auto finance business)
May 17, 1996... Like a siren, high margins and explosive growth are calling more and more companies to the subprime auto finance business. But just how much traffic can the industry bear? "At the moment there is room for more," said one industry source....

Solar company has bright future. (Solar Outdoor Lighting)
May 17, 1996... STUART - Area parks are using it to light pathways and running tracks. Homeowner associations are using it to illuminate entryway signs. And it's becoming the fixture of choice for cities looking to illuminate bus stops. Though still the...

Developer eyes Boca site. (ZOM Development Inc.; Boca Raton, FL)
May 24, 1996... ZOM plans mixed-use center on 60 acres BOCA RATON - With visions of building 1.25 million square of office, retail and residential space, a Winter Park developer has placed a 60-acre site near Interstate 95 under contract. ZOM Development...

L.A. firm targets SF for studio. (Raleigh Enterprises; South Florida)
May 24, 1996... MIAMI - Los Angeles- based Raleigh Enterprises - which runs Raleigh Film and Television Studios, the country's largest independent motion picture and TV complex - is looking to build a studio in South Florida. Michael Browarnik, president of...

Riverwalk Brewery to be reborn on the 4th of July.
May 24, 1996... FORT LAUDERDALE - The Riverwalk Brewery, which shut its doors last fall after owner Chris Stasinos tried to give it away in an essay contest, will be reborn this summer as the Independence Brewery and Restaurant. Backed by $350,000 from three...

FMC Inc. wins $1M jury award. (Florida Medical Center Inc.)
May 24, 1996... FORT LAUDERDALE - A Broward Circuit Court jury has awarded Florida Medical Center Inc. nearly $1 million in damages in a breach of contract lawsuit against Hospital Corporation of America. The case, filed in 1990, claimed that HCA violated an...

City National lures another high-profile banker. (City National Bank; Peter L. Bermont)
May 24, 1996... MIAMI - In a move applauded around town, City National Bank chairman Leonard L. Abess Jr. has made another high-profile hire, luring Peter L. Bermont to take over as president of the bank next month. Bermont, the well-known head of Smith...

Imaging diagnostics firm has potential, but.... (Imaging Diagnostic Systems Inc.)
May 24, 1996... SUNRISE - If anyone knows about the power of public relations, it's Richard Grable. The chief executive of Imaging Diagnostic Systems Inc. in Sunrise has seen his company's stock go from a low of 50 cents a share in May 1995 to a high of $8.75 in...

And then there were three. (foreign banks in South Florida)
May 24, 1996... One fewer foreign bank is waiting for approval to open a South Florida office - Banco Osorno y la Union has withdrawn its application for an agency office in Miami. The Chilean bank is being acquired by a subsidiary of Banco Santander Spain,...

BankAtlantic set to add branches, businesses in '96. (BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc.)
May 24, 1996... FORT LAUDERDALE - Still complaining about his company's stock price, BankAtlantic Bancorp chairman Alan B. Levan nonetheless had plenty to brag about at this week's annual meeting. Rising earnings, plenty of capital, a couple of acquisitions...

Perfumania plans salons, spa products. (Perfumania Inc.)
May 24, 1996... MIAMI - Perfumania, the Miami firm that already has made a dent in department store perfume sales, is moving in on the territory of hair salons, beauty supply stores and spas. Besides the usual array of fragrances sold at a 5 to 70 percent...

Media mogul Paxson adds WIOD-AM to Florida kingdom. (WIOD 610-AM new owner Lowell Paxson)
May 24, 1996... MIAMI - WIOD 610-AM will see some major programming changes in the next few months, but it's business as usual for new owner Lowell "Bud" Paxson, who this week paid $13 million for the radio station. Talk show host Phil Hendrie is leaving,...

Building a pediatric network. (Miami Children's Hospital's setting up of integrated pediatric health care network)
May 31, 1996... Miami Children's Hospital developing statewide system MIAMI - Miami Children's Hospital is breaking out beyond its campus boundaries, developing an integrated pediatric health care network. Hospital officials want to ensure that the state's...

Windmere stock surges, hits new high. (Windmere Corp.)
May 31, 1996... MIAMI LAKES - Big buy orders have juiced Windmere Corp. stock, one of last week's biggest gainers. Shares in the personal care and appliance company jumped 32 percent on roughly five times normal trading volume, closing at $13.50 May 24 after...

Design Store opening new doors for Guarino. (John Guarino and his furniture business, Design Store)
May 31, 1996... CORAL GABLES - Ten years ago, John Guarino was running the $20 million-a-year Door Store chain from his West Dede offices off the Palmetto Expressway. With 27 stores from Miami to Tallahassee, Door Store had a lock on the Florida market for...

Eastern National still waiting for fed to bless union. (Eastern National Bank's acceptance of an acquisition proposal from Union Planters Corp.)
May 31, 1996... MIAMI - Eastern National Bank accepted an acquisition proposal from Union Planters Corp. a year ago, but the two have yet to consummate their relationship. Technical issues and questions about the ownership of Eastern National's stock have led...

Taking primary care on the road. (Dr. Jeffrey S. Solomon's mobile chiropractic clinic)
May 31, 1996... Chiropractor seeking capital for new venture MIAMI - Three years ago Dr. Jeffrey S. Solomon hit the road running with his mobile chiropractic clinic. Today, he says it gets as many as 80 patient visits a week. Now, the 36-year-old South...

Beacon's new CEO: "Everything flows from jobs." (Frank Nero of Miami's Beacon Council)
May 31, 1996... After six years as head of Jacksonville's Downtown Development Authority, Frank Nero will step down at the beginning of August to become president and chief executive of Miami's Beacon Council. He replaces John Anderson, who left last year to...

Hamilton Bank's trade finance business taking off in Tampa.
May 31, 1996... Julio Moisa had a mid-life crisis of sorts a couple of years back. "I just got burned out," he said. "I needed to take a break." It was a break from which the company is just now recovering. Moisa had hired a president to run his Tampa...