Florida Agenda

Matty’s on the Drive Celebrates 2nd Anniversary

The place has been called the “sleeping giant on the drive.” It appears the sleeping pussy cat has awoken and its roar is being heard up and down Wilton Drive and a far. Matty’s on the Drive, named after founder Matt Auslander, is stirring the pot and, from all reports, the community is responding and loving it (Excuse us McDonalds).

Is it the no smoking policy, the drink prices, the cleanliness, the staff, the video music, the young clientele, the owners? Just what is it that is drawing big crowds to this neighborhood bar?

“Probably all of it,” says Matt Auslander, who has been in the nightlife business for 25 years.

“Matty’s was designed to be a place for people and friends to gather in a safe, clean environment and just kick back,” he says.

Matty’s is expanding and will soon open the Oy Vey Deli, a New York styled deli that will open for lunch and serve traditional overstuffed deli sandwiches until the wee hours of the morning.

“We wanted to be a true neighborhood watering hole,” said Terry Norman, who liked what was going on at Matty’s and joined Auslander, a longtime friend, as a partner not too long ago,. “Matty’s has created a niche for itself on the drive and I wanted to be a part of it,” Norman added. Matty’s has expanded twice by taking over neighboring space and will expand a third time by taking an extra bay.

“We needed more space so when the third bay became available, we grabbed it,” said Auslander.

Matty’s has formed a close alliance with its neighbors, Rosie’s and New Moon, who have worked together on a number of promotions. “We get along extremely well and have one common goal and that is promoting the north end of the Drive,” said Auslander.

On their 2nd anniversary, celebrated August 20 – 22, expect some loud roars including giveaways worth hundreds of dollars. The giveaways include a $250 bar tab, Apple IPAD, a Nintendo Wii and anniversary T-shirts. Entertainment will be provided by New York vocalist Spicky Hilton. Also, one of South Florida’s local TV stations will film portions of the weekend celebration for the kickoff of a new lifestyle program.

Richard Gray Adds 53 Rooms to Property

(Photo: Richard Gray at the Royal Palms Resort)

By Bob Kecskemety

When Richard Gray opened the original Royal Palms Resort in 1991, the property set a new standard for gay guest houses in our area. Now, with Gray back at the helm, he plans to combine a couple of neighboring properties adding 53 new rooms to his current 12 making a total of 60 rooms and it becoming the largest gay resort in Fort Lauderdale.

“There are some very exciting changes going to be happening here at the Royal Palms,” said Gray, “changes that will definitely make an impact on the property and the entire destination.”

After a two-year absence from The Royal Palms, Gray’s goal is to start rebranding and renovating The Royal Palms. The rooms, current and new, are going to be more “contemporary, more stylish, more European,” said Gray. “I think the rooms are lovely now but they’re a little bit stodgy. People like edgy.

Young people like edgy and more and more younger people are coming to Fort Lauderdale. I think edgy is the way to go.” The last time The Royal Palms was remodeled was in 2001. Changes will begin within the next few weeks.

All three buildings will be totally remodeled and with the addition of the two additional properties and rooms, other new amenities will include a spa, gym, ocean-view sundeck, full liquor bar and indoor/outdoor café. Gray is also looking forward to landscaping the new properties. “Our new hotel will embrace the tropical setting while showcasing a clean, boutique design and a European sensibility. It will be gay but definitely heterofriendly.”

“I like to be one step ahead of the curve,” said Gray. So I’m hoping that with this next chapter I will be right there.”

However, as usual, Gray looks beyond his own property to see the impact the new Royal Palms will have assisting to keep Fort Lauderdale a world-class gay destination. Gray sits on board of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Visitors and Convention Bureau.

“It’s all about branding,” said Gray, “and it’s very competitive out there. Gay travel is not a shoe anymore. You’ve got tweak and tweak your marketing tools and come up with different hooks. We’re not just competing with other Florida destinations; we’re competing with other European cities. We’re competing with Mexico and we’re competing with every place else.

It’s all about reinventing yourself and value.”

Making Le Move

(Photo: Andy Harrison and Eric Reivik)
PCLauderdale made a move this week to a new location at 279 E. Oakland Park Boulevard doubling the space they need for their rapidly growing business.

This is the second time in two years that PCLauderdale has moved to obtain more space. In April 2009, the store/repair shop moved within the same strip shopping center, Strawberry Plaza, next to Matty’s On the Drive to obtain the space they required. This time they moved to an entirely new location in Oakland Park.

“We can still see Wilton Manors,” said co-owner Eric Reivik, “it’s right across the street and we’re only four minutes away from our old location.”  Reivik spends most of his work day on the road servicing their clients in their offices and installing systems while partner, Andy Harrison spends the majority of his time in the store itself.

“The space is doubled and the rent is less,” said Harrison, “but we do miss our old neighbors. When we decided that we needed to move again for more space a short while ago, we promised ourselves that we wouldn’t just move into the first space we found. However, the first space we found was perfect.” Harrison also said that the new space was a former neon sign company so there is plenty of electrical outlets now at workbench height. “We used to be able to work on around 11 computers at a time, now we can have around 24 on the workbench at once.”

The new space also affords PCLauderdale to have a front customer service waiting area where customers can wait meet Harrison and Reivik to discuss their computers problems and allow customers to wait for service. The store will continue to offer Lenovo computers and other accessories but will be able to increase their stock and selection. Soon PCLauderdale will be offering additional services and will build their online store.

Four years ago, Harrison and Reivik started repairing computers on their dining room table for their friends. Their friends then started telling their other friends and their workload expanded exponentially. After outgrowing both their dining and living rooms they opened their first storefront location two years ago.

“We’ve been really blessed,” said Reivik, “many of those original customers we had when we repaired computers in our home are still with us and some have already showed up in our new store.”

PCLauderdale Doubles Space

During these troubling economic times it’s rare to hear about business expansion. PCLauderdale has moved to a new location, in the same shopping plaza at 2424 Wilton Drive in order to provide themselves more working and retail space. “I don’t know what we’re doing right,” said Andy Harrison, co-owner with Eric Reibik of PCLauderdale.

When asked how to keep their computers running as long as possible, Harrison explained that dust is a major enemy of the computer. Dust in the air collects inside the computers causing the components to overheat and that dust at construction sites should be avoided because plaster dust is the worst. “It’s like sand on the beach it gets into places you don’t want to know,” said Harrison. Computers should be periodically be cleaned to remove the dust.

The computers should also be used with a good surge protector. “We still have people that come in from West Palm and South Dade,” said Harrison. “And other people still leave notes on our door at home when they need us”.