Hyfler/Rosner
2005-01-29 18:34:01 UTC
'Big Daddy' dies of cancer;
The man who made Flanigan's restaurants and Big Daddy's
lounges a South Florida institution died Friday at age 75.;
BYLINE: BY KEVIN DEUTSCH; ***@herald.com
When Joseph ''Big Daddy'' Flanigan was a U.S. Navy crewman
on a minesweeper in the 1950s, he couldn't have predicted
his future success.
Even with his passion and enthusiasm for work, he could not
have dreamed that his rugged, bearded face would become the
symbol of Flanigan's Bar and Grill -- a South Florida icon.
Flanigan, 75, died at his home in Sea Ranch Lakes Friday
morning after a two-year battle with cancer.
''Joe was a one-of-a-kind combination of a bigger-than-life
icon and a regular guy,'' said Augie Bucci, the chief
operating officer of Fort Lauderdale-based Flanigan's
Enterprises. 'He was and will always be Big Daddy, and the
'Big' stood for his magnanimous heart.''
A former stockbroker and graduate of the prestigious Wharton
School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania,
Flanigan opened the first Big Daddy's Liquors in Hialeah in
1959, teaming up with two former clients from his
stockbroker days.
Together they invested $1.5 million to get into the bar
business. The first Big Daddy's lounge opened in the early
1960s. Flanigan said it was one of the area's few year-round
businesses back then.
''Those days in the summertime in Florida, you could get out
on Federal Highway and play tennis,'' Flanigan said at the
time. ''All of a sudden we had a business. We went and
bought eight more stores.''
By the mid-1970s, Big Daddy's Liquors had more than 80 bars
and lounges in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas,
California and Pennsylvania. But by the 1980s, things had
started to unravel under the strain of long-term leasing
agreements.
Flanigan's Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in
1985, reemerging 14 months later as a series of
full-service, casual-style restaurants called Flanigan's
Seafood Bar and Grill.
Flanigan, an industry leader for 45 years, was at one time
the largest independent lounge operator in the United
States, with 80 locations and nearly 800 employees.
Big Daddy's lounges were popular watering holes for South
Florida natives and tourists.
But Joe Flanigan's strategies were criticized when his
businesses slumped in the 1980s, falling $4.2 million into
debt and forcing Big Daddy's to file for bankruptcy. Some
said his properties attracted seedy clients and were no
longer the friendly neighborhood hangouts customers had once
known.
Realizing there was a trend away from lounges, Flanigan
recasted his restaurants as ''family'' eateries. The company
shed its stores outside South Florida, and started
specializing in value-priced ribs and seafood.
''The public is not stupid. They recognize value,'' Flanigan
said in 1998. ''We took these wornout lounges and reformed
them into first-class food operations.''
Flanigan's idea worked -- slowly. Traded on the American
Stock Exchange, Flanigan's Enterprises took two years to
emerge from bankruptcy and about five more to turn a profit.
''He was on the forefront of the entertainment industry,''
said his son Jim Flanigan, president of the company.
Joseph Flanigan, who grew up in Philadelphia, was often
flamboyant and outspoken. He used to drive a green Excalibur
while wearing a beret, thick gold jewelry and green slacks
and jackets. He battled alcoholism and was occasionally
hostile to even longtime friends.
As his restaurants prospered, Flanigan vigorously cultivated
the company's image. Keeping the Flanigan name sacred was so
important that he sued his nephew Paul Flanigan for
continuing to use it on his Fort Lauderdale Quarterdeck
restaurants after failing to renew their franchise
agreement. The lawsuit ended in mediation in 1998 with Paul
Flanigan paying his Uncle Joe $110,000.
Flanigan, whose own company stock was worth about $4 million
in 1998, always longed for a return to his company's early
years.
'There was a time that everybody knew the name 'Big Daddy,'
'' he said. ''I want people to recognize my name the way
they did in the '70s.''
Flanigan is survived by his wife of 48 years, Ann Nock
Flanigan; their five children, Patricia Flanigan Motta,
Margaret Flanigan Fraser, Patrick Flanigan, Michael Flanigan
and James Flanigan; his brother, James Flanigan; and 16
grandchildren.
A memorial service is 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Assumption
Church, 2001 S. Ocean Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
The Palm Beach Post contributed to this report.
The man who made Flanigan's restaurants and Big Daddy's
lounges a South Florida institution died Friday at age 75.;
BYLINE: BY KEVIN DEUTSCH; ***@herald.com
When Joseph ''Big Daddy'' Flanigan was a U.S. Navy crewman
on a minesweeper in the 1950s, he couldn't have predicted
his future success.
Even with his passion and enthusiasm for work, he could not
have dreamed that his rugged, bearded face would become the
symbol of Flanigan's Bar and Grill -- a South Florida icon.
Flanigan, 75, died at his home in Sea Ranch Lakes Friday
morning after a two-year battle with cancer.
''Joe was a one-of-a-kind combination of a bigger-than-life
icon and a regular guy,'' said Augie Bucci, the chief
operating officer of Fort Lauderdale-based Flanigan's
Enterprises. 'He was and will always be Big Daddy, and the
'Big' stood for his magnanimous heart.''
A former stockbroker and graduate of the prestigious Wharton
School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania,
Flanigan opened the first Big Daddy's Liquors in Hialeah in
1959, teaming up with two former clients from his
stockbroker days.
Together they invested $1.5 million to get into the bar
business. The first Big Daddy's lounge opened in the early
1960s. Flanigan said it was one of the area's few year-round
businesses back then.
''Those days in the summertime in Florida, you could get out
on Federal Highway and play tennis,'' Flanigan said at the
time. ''All of a sudden we had a business. We went and
bought eight more stores.''
By the mid-1970s, Big Daddy's Liquors had more than 80 bars
and lounges in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas,
California and Pennsylvania. But by the 1980s, things had
started to unravel under the strain of long-term leasing
agreements.
Flanigan's Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in
1985, reemerging 14 months later as a series of
full-service, casual-style restaurants called Flanigan's
Seafood Bar and Grill.
Flanigan, an industry leader for 45 years, was at one time
the largest independent lounge operator in the United
States, with 80 locations and nearly 800 employees.
Big Daddy's lounges were popular watering holes for South
Florida natives and tourists.
But Joe Flanigan's strategies were criticized when his
businesses slumped in the 1980s, falling $4.2 million into
debt and forcing Big Daddy's to file for bankruptcy. Some
said his properties attracted seedy clients and were no
longer the friendly neighborhood hangouts customers had once
known.
Realizing there was a trend away from lounges, Flanigan
recasted his restaurants as ''family'' eateries. The company
shed its stores outside South Florida, and started
specializing in value-priced ribs and seafood.
''The public is not stupid. They recognize value,'' Flanigan
said in 1998. ''We took these wornout lounges and reformed
them into first-class food operations.''
Flanigan's idea worked -- slowly. Traded on the American
Stock Exchange, Flanigan's Enterprises took two years to
emerge from bankruptcy and about five more to turn a profit.
''He was on the forefront of the entertainment industry,''
said his son Jim Flanigan, president of the company.
Joseph Flanigan, who grew up in Philadelphia, was often
flamboyant and outspoken. He used to drive a green Excalibur
while wearing a beret, thick gold jewelry and green slacks
and jackets. He battled alcoholism and was occasionally
hostile to even longtime friends.
As his restaurants prospered, Flanigan vigorously cultivated
the company's image. Keeping the Flanigan name sacred was so
important that he sued his nephew Paul Flanigan for
continuing to use it on his Fort Lauderdale Quarterdeck
restaurants after failing to renew their franchise
agreement. The lawsuit ended in mediation in 1998 with Paul
Flanigan paying his Uncle Joe $110,000.
Flanigan, whose own company stock was worth about $4 million
in 1998, always longed for a return to his company's early
years.
'There was a time that everybody knew the name 'Big Daddy,'
'' he said. ''I want people to recognize my name the way
they did in the '70s.''
Flanigan is survived by his wife of 48 years, Ann Nock
Flanigan; their five children, Patricia Flanigan Motta,
Margaret Flanigan Fraser, Patrick Flanigan, Michael Flanigan
and James Flanigan; his brother, James Flanigan; and 16
grandchildren.
A memorial service is 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Assumption
Church, 2001 S. Ocean Blvd., Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
The Palm Beach Post contributed to this report.