Things To Do In SW Florida

Q: We, along with others in our new construction condo, were all told there would be a dog-walk area. There was none when we moved, and there are no plans for one. The dog-walk area was not specified in our purchase agreement, but we were all informed verbally of the same information.  Our building states it is dog-friendly in the contract.   Do we have any legal recourse?  — Catherine

A: While you do have some options, they are limited because the developer’s promise that a dog-walk area was not included in the written agreement.

The “statute of frauds” is a legal doctrine designed to protect individuals from dishonest behavior by requiring certain agreements, including those related to the purchase of real estate, to be in writing.

Worse yet, almost all real estate contracts will have an “integration clause” that explicitly states that each party’s obligations are confined to those documented in the agreement and that it supersedes all prior agreements leading up to the final, signed contract. read more

Jellyrolls may be leaving Walt Disney World, but the dueling-piano bar will continue to make “sweet memories” for Florida locals and vacationers in a new — but as yet undisclosed — location, its general manager said.

The final day to experience Jellyrolls in its current spot on Disney’s Boardwalk will be April 19. General manager Amber Antel said the business, which rents its space from Disney and is not owned by the theme-park giant, would then have time to move out of its longtime home before its lease officially ends. Once that’s complete, more information about a new location will be announced at its website, jellyrollswdw.com or through social media.

In the meantime, it’s business as usual at the musical nightspot. On a recent Tuesday, a crowd of conventioneers showed up early, while vacationers and regulars stayed late — closing time is 1:45 a.m. The pianists’ eclectic musical selections saw back-to-back performances of “The Wizard and I” from “Wicked” leading into Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” and the Steve Miller Band’s classic and chill “The Joker” giving way to Disney’s raucous “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” read more

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The majority of U.S. stocks are rising Wednesday, and Wall Street is drifting in mixed trading following weeks of scary swings, both down and up.

The S&P 500 was 0.4% lower in morning trading and potentially heading for a second quiet day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 201 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, while more drops for Nvidia and Tesla were sending the Nasdaq composite toward a market-leading loss of 1.2%.

Big Tech stocks have been at the center of the U.S. stock market’s recent sell-off, which earlier this month took the S&P 500 10% below its all-time high for its first “correction” since 2023. Big Tech had rocketed in earlier years amid a frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology to prices that critics called overdone, rising even more quickly than their rapidly growing profits.

Nvidia fell 4.7% to bring its loss for the young year so far to 14.4%. It was the single heaviest weight on the S&P 500 by far. read more

Dave & Buster’s, a national chain operating as a restaurant, sports bar and arcade, has accused a South Florida-based competitor of promoting its growing business with infringing use of a long-held trademark.

Arcade Time USA incorporates the phrase “Eat Drink Play” into its marketing, advertising and promotion of services “categorically identical” to those provided by Dave & Buster’s, according to a lawsuit filed on March 13 in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale.

“Eat Drink Play” has been a Dave & Buster’s trademark since 1988, the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit states that Arcade Time, which operates locations in Coral Springs, Wellington, Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville, failed to respond to four “cease and desist” letters sent by Dave & Buster’s between December 2023 and June 2024. The letters demanded that Arcade Time drop its “unauthorized” use of the phrase “Eat Drink Play Win” from its website and in-store signage, according to the suit. read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, Associated Press Business Writer

Dollar Tree is selling Family Dollar to a pair of private equity firms for $1 billion after a decade of trying to make its acquisition of the bargain chain fit.

Dollar Tree Inc. acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion in 2015 after a bidding war with rival Dollar General.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said that after acquiring the rival chain, Dollar Tree struggled with supply chain issues, poor store locations and other operational difficulties.

“Basically, Dollar Tree bit off far more than it could chew,” he said.

Last year Dollar Tree announced that it planned to close hundreds of Family Dollar stores.

Dollar Tree had been scouting options for Family Dollar for a while and said Wednesday that the sale to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management will allow it to focus on its core business.

“This is a major milestone in our multiyear transformation journey to help us fully achieve our potential,” said Mike Creedon, who was made permanent chief executive officer of Dollar Tree late last year. read more