Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Tuesday's Afternoon Update

Grocery bankruptcies teach a valuable lesson: Publix is still king in Florida

Don’t mess with Publix. That’s the biggest of several takeaways in the early 2020 shakeout in the grocery sector, with two chains — Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare — declaring bankruptcy within nine days of each other. “Florida is a graveyard for grocery stores that come in here and try to compete with Publix,” Sembler Co. CEO Greg Sembler says. St. Pete-based Sembler has built more than 50 Publix shopping centers, going back some 40 years. “Kroger looked at Lucky’s as a way to dip its toe into Florida, … but I’ve seen this before.” More from the Business Observer.

Business conferences set for Miami cancel amid coronavirus spread

Miami tourism providers are starting to feel a pinch as cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, continue to pop up in the U.S. Companies began canceling business meetings and conferences after state health officials confirmed two coronavirus cases in Florida Sunday. The move follows a wave of cancellations worldwide, including Art Basel’s Hong Kong fair and ITB, a mammoth travel industry meeting set this month for Berlin. More from the Miami Herald.

Space Coast lands 10th in 'best-performing cities' list, buoyed by job growth, tech industry

The Space Coast area has made a list of the 10 best-performing cities in the U.S. The Milken Institute, a nonpartisan economic think tank, uses an index to grade communities on measures that include job growth, wage growth and growth of high-tech industries within metropolitan areas. The Space Coast shares 2020's top 10 list for big cities with major metros like San Francisco, Seattle and Austin, Texas. More from Florida Today.

Orlando’s housing supply hit a record low this year, leaving a shortage of 6,500 homes

Orlando’s housing inventory hit a record low this year, signaling the continued turnaround from the Great Recession but also the tight squeeze on a region already dealing with a severe shortage of affordable homes. In January, there were just 7,030 homes on the market for sale, according to the most recent report from the Orlando Regional Realtors Association, a 15% drop from the year prior and a nearly 60% decline since the end of the recession in 2009. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Capping pot potency stalls in Florida Senate

A proposed cap on the level of euphoria-inducing THC in medical marijuana has hit a snag in the Senate, leaving a priority of the House in jeopardy as time runs down on the legislative session. Senate Health Policy Chairwoman Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, introduced a proposal Monday that would have capped THC levels in medical marijuana for patients under age 21. More from WJXT.

Sports Business
Miami Dolphins owner seeking tax break on Formula One race at stadium he owns

 The billionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins is lobbying state lawmakers for a roughly $2 million tax break to help subsidize a racing event that would be staged at his South Florida football stadium. The bid for the tax break comes a few months after the Formula One Group, the international racing business, struck a deal to hold one of its marquee Grand Prix events in and around Hard Rock Stadium, the venue principally owned by developer and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

» More from the Orlando Sentinel.

 

Out of the Box
Rent-A-Ruminant

florida If you’ve ever tried to keep up with the maintenance of your house yard or business, you’ve realized it’s a lot of work -- especially when weeds and overgrown brushes get out of control. But, Rent-A-Ruminant is now in central Florida to get rid of those invasive species. “These are a very ecological way to come in, clear out the invasive stuff and then you come in and get rid of what’s left,” Carol Etscovitz, goat wrangler for Rent-A-Ruminant said. Etscovitz was hired with her herd of 25 goats by the Homeowners Association for Silver Woods, a residential community in Windermere, Orange county.

» Read more from Click Orlando.