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Former Checkers CEO Sirois joins Big Boy
Source: Times
Jan 26, 2009 12:25 pm
We knew him when. Former Checkers Drive-In Restaurants CEO Keith Sirois started work today as CEO of Michigan-based Big Boy Restaurants International. The 2004 photo (by Michael Rondou of the St. Petersburg Times) shows Sirois (on right) with Lou Pin…
Stimulating home sales one foreclosure at a time
Source: Times
Jan 26, 2009 12:25 pm
December was the fourth month in a row that homes sales rose in the Tampa Bay area. You don't have to look hard for reasons why. Foreclosure homes are depressing prices while stimulating sales. From December 2007 to December 2008,...
Home Depot slashes jobs, shutters stores
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 26, 2009 10:50 am
Home Depot announced today that it will cut 7,000 jobs and close more than 40 stores under its smaller home improvement brands, including three in South Florida. The South Florida EXPO stores that are closing are at 1520 SW 8th Street in Boynton Bea…
Home Depot slashes jobs, shutters stores
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 26, 2009 10:43 am
Home Depot announced today that it cutting 7,000 jobs and closing more than 40 stores under its smaller home improvement brands, including three in South Florida. Atlanta-based Home Depot, the country's largest home improvement chain, is also freezi…
Tourism industry preps for battle over cash
Source: Sentinel
Jan 26, 2009 9:46 am
Florida's tourism operators are bracing to do battle over government cash. Although the start of the state Legislature's annual 60-day session is a little more than a month away, it's already clear the tourism industry's agenda will be dominated by..…
Bill filed to force online travel companies to pay full taxes
Source: Sentinel
Jan 26, 2009 9:35 am
Expedia, Orbitz and the rest of the online-travel industry are expected to renew their efforts this year to convince the Florida Legislature to pass a law ensuring they only have to pay hotel and sales taxes on the discount rate...
News of lawyers indicted in Ponzi elicits shock in legal circles
Source: Inside Track
Jan 26, 2009 9:24 am
Two Fort Lauderdale attorneys indicted in a nearly $1 billion Ponzi scheme known as Mutual Benefits are anything but fly-by-night hucksters known to be associated with the worn pyramid con.
Diversity Scorecard: Gay Attorneys
Source: Inside Track
Jan 26, 2009 9:23 am
Coral Gables appellate attorney Rosemary Wilder came out as a lesbian 15 years ago but is afraid a new generation of attorneys has lost sight of the importance of being open about their sexual orientation in the workplace.
Diversity Scorecard: Law Schools
Source: Inside Track
Jan 26, 2009 9:23 am
There is little argument that if law firms continue to fight over the same small pool of minority law school graduates, diversity efforts will stall.
Diversity Scorecard: Retention
Source: Inside Track
Jan 26, 2009 9:23 am
Valerie Shea has spent her 25-year career as a litigator at Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold’s Fort Lauderdale office and was the first female partner in its earlier South Florida incarnation, Gordon Hargrove & James, but she said diversity is so per…
Special Report: Diversity Scorecard
Source: Inside Track
Jan 26, 2009 9:18 am
With just a few months left to find a job before graduating, St. Thomas University College of Law student Schuyler Smith understands just how difficult it is to find work in a recession.
Stimulating home sales in foreclosure fashion
Source: Times
Jan 26, 2009 7:25 am
December was the fourth month in a row that existing homes rose in the Tampa Bay area. You don't have to look hard for reasons why. Foreclosure homes are depressing prices while stimulating sales. From December 2007 to December 2008,...
Tampa PR man Glenn Selig reps Blagojevich
Source: Times
Jan 26, 2009 5:50 am
Wake up and good morning. What is it about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his connections to the city of Tampa? We chronicled on this Venture blog in December that as a lad Gov. Rod attended the University of Tampa...
Bradenton's Coast Bank still burns its buyer
Source: Times
Jan 25, 2009 11:10 pm
Despite the best intentions, stronger banks that have recently bought up weaker banks frequently find the acquisitions continue to give them major indigestion. Consider the fate of First Banks of St. Louis, which in the fall of 2007 swooped into...
Hungry home buyers flock to Boynton development
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 24, 2009 3:06 pm
Interest in GL Homes' Valencia Reserve community is high. How high? The sales center opened at 9:30 Saturday morning, and the hot dog vendor sold 1,900 dogs by 2 p.m. As we mentioned in the previous post, people camped out overnight to choose a lot…
Times are tough, but selling your virginity?
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 23, 2009 4:35 pm
Would you serve up your virginity for a million dollars? Do you think anyone should be allowed to buy it?It should be said the entrepreneur sparking this question and controversy says she is selling her 22-year-old, college degreed virginity as...
No kidding: Buyers camping out for GL Homes project
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 23, 2009 3:13 pm
Well, well. Two people are actually camping out for the right to buy in GL Homes' newest community, Valencia Reserve near Boynton Beach. "I haven't used the word 'camper' in a couple of years, at least," said Marcie DePlaza, division president for …
We could be among worst apartment rental market in '09
Source: Times
Jan 23, 2009 2:58 pm
The Marcus & Millichap real estate firm published a pretty downbeat apartment rental forecast for our region. Apartment vacancy here is supposed to climb 1.3 percentage points to reached 9.7 percent in 2009. Doesn't sound that high? Our projected vac…
Housing affordability could pave way for economic recovery
Source: Times
Jan 23, 2009 12:07 pm
Here's an interesting take from an economist at MarketWatch, who suggests housing could pull the economy out of its tailspin:During the past three years personal incomes rose a total of 10% while home prices dropped by some 23%, on average....
Times are tough, but selling your virginity?
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 23, 2009 11:35 am
Would you serve up your virginity for a million dollars?It should be said the entrepreneur sparking this question and controversy says she is selling her 22-year-old, college degreed virginity as a means to a cutting-edge social experiment. And not a…
Orlando Regional Realtor Association numbers drop again
Source: Sentinel
Jan 23, 2009 10:27 am
The local Realtor association tells me membership has dropped from 11,363 members on Dec. 31, 2007 to 9,140 members on Dec. 31, 2008. That's a drop of 19.5 percent. And the number is expected to drop another 8 percent by...
Yeah Girl Scouts cookies cost more, so what?
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 23, 2009 10:21 am
Most everyone I know has their favorite Girl Scout cookie (mine is thin mints), but who buys them for the flavor?Some people are realizing (and complaining) that this year there are less cookies at the same price. Yes, it's true....
Ever wonder what makes your property insurance prices change?
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Jan 23, 2009 9:07 am
Most Florida home and condo owners don't know that a key factor driving their annual insurance rates is a little-known product: reinsurance, or insurance for insurers. Lawmakers temporarily expanded the state's Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, wh…
55 West still owes city of Orlando incentive money
Source: Sentinel
Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am
I reported in today's column that 55 West, one of the original projects announced back in 2003 at the beginning of the downtown condo boom, is still far from complete with a far from certain future. Sadly, I think the...
Organizational advice from expert Deniece Schofield
Source: Herald Tribune
Jan 23, 2009 8:53 am
Deniece Schofield's 12 tips to organizing your space: -- Store infrequently used objects. People tend to place things they rarely use in easily accessible spots, then complain that they have no space.