Word: planet
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...course, this environment would be the norm for many other Spaniards. It probably wouldn't faze an Italian either. But for an American, especially one from New Jersey and Harvard, living in Leon has been like living on another planet. It has forced me to evaluate the way Americans do things with a more critical eye--and sometimes Spain seems the more sane country. For instance, why are Americans obsessed with getting drunk--something that is considered unpleasant and unhip in Spain? Why are there so many restrictive laws and so many lawsuits in America? And why are Americans such...
...scene would be repeated the following week in Seattle, with cyberczar Bill Gates adding his virtual glamour, and soon in the most touristed spots in the U.S. and a score of other countries. And Planet Hollywood is far from the only franchise where it will be happening. Motown Cafe, the Official All Star Cafe, Harley Davidson Cafe, Country Star, Rain Forest Cafe and Dive! are all out to sate the public hunger for theme dining. These multimedia spectaculars, designed to stimulate every sensory-nerve end--possibly even the palate--are undergoing a second, rapid phase of growth some 25 years...
Wall Street investors too have a craving for concept. Last April Planet Hollywood's creators, Robert Earl and his principal partner, filmmaker Keith Barish, took the company to the markets via an initial public offering of its stock. With its high-dazzle celebrity partners generating headlines, and with a then dazzling IPO market (see story page 60) generating buyers, the price went into another orbit. Some 11 million shares were offered at $18 each, topped $26 (you and Arnold Schwarzenegger--co-owners!), and held firm in a shaky market. That values the company at almost $2.8 billion--91 times...
According to its IPO prospectus, the 14 units Planet Hollywood opened last year averaged revenues of $14.3 million each. Its restaurant at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, claims the world's highest gross, at $45 million in 1995, its first year. Revenues are expected to top $50 million this year...
...could agree more than the undisputed lord of theme, transplanted Brit Robert Earl, that "the desire to be entertained is growing." The former dinner-theater operator left Hard Rock Cafe in 1992 for Planet Hollywood, which he started the year before. (Hard Rock creator Peter Morton sued Earl for allegedly purloining Hard Rock's business plans. The issue was settled without a trial.) Last year Earl, a die-hard Orlando Magic fan, opened the Official All Star Cafe; he will soon launch MarvelMania (comics) and Chefs of the World (imagine--food...