A lot of our community only know Jackson and Mark as the owners of Alibi and Bill’s (in the heart of Wilton Manors) but do not know the people behind the names. I have been fortunate enough to socialize with them on many occasions; whether it is lunches, conversations in their offices, or even chatting at the many charity events that we all attend. Due to this…
A lot of our community only know Jackson and Mark as the owners of Alibi and Bill’s (in the heart of Wilton Manors) but do not know the people behind the names. I have been fortunate enough to socialize with them on many occasions; whether it is lunches, conversations in their offices, or even chatting at the many charity events that we all attend. Due to this, I have gathered a tremendous amount of respect for who they are as businessmen and as community leaders. It was a pleasure to sit down with them and better understand just how important they are not only to our community but to the 128 employees who are proud to work there.
Many people think that you made the decision to put the fence around the property, is this true. ?
We did not, although people assume the Alibi Corporation owns this property, we do not. We rent like every other tenant. The Realty Company decided to put the fence up to protect the businesses in the shopping center. The truth is that if it were my decision, I’m not sure that I would have done it. Now that it’s done, I do think it is much safer and better protects our customers.
Are you upset when other bars/Clubs open on the drive?
We are always happy for more businesses to open up (contrary to what many people think). As a matter of fact when Sidelines, The Manor and others came in we got busier. We try to unite our community. Recently, we just held the 4th annual Palm Springs Cocktail Challenge Fort Lauderdale Preliminary and invited all the bars/restaurants to enter and we had 12 bartenders from many different locations. P.S. congrats to Kat from Boom for winning. We did this to, once again, show the community that we need to be unified.
As a friend, I know you give back tremendously to our community. Tell me a bit more about this?
The Alibi Corporation spends over $500,000 a year supporting charities and spending money on local mom and pop businesses. It hurts our feelings at times that people think of us as a villain just because we have been successful for so many years. We have benefits for and give to so many charities, it would be impossible to list them all, but some of the big ones that come to mind are: AIDS Walk- almost $12,000; Grateful Paws – over $11,000 in a 5 hours benefit (thanks to Ewe Schroeder); Tuesday Angels Underwear Auction – over $10,000 a year for the last few years (thanks to Don Clark).
You recently moved the corporate offices to Pride Center. How did this occur?
The property of our former location is under re-development and we had to move out. When we thought about it, we decided that we wanted to rent space from the Pride Center so that even our rent money would go to helping our community.
I have heard your staff call you Papa and Mama, how did this come about?
We have 128 people who work for us and we have to protect them. These people depend on us to pay their bills. They have become our family and they have given us the nicknames of Papa and Mama and I cherish this.
We also offer them Healthcare, which is almost unheard of in the bar business. This costs the corportation$190,000 a year; $1500 per employee.
We have many stories of helping our employees. A recent example is when our bartender Eddie’s family’s houses were either destroyed or partially destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. Eddie was of course devastated and had to go back to the North east help them. We put together a fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy and all of the staff chipped in to help one of our own. It shows that the Alibi and Bills corporation is truly a family and we belong together. As long as we stick together we can withstand anything.
We have also helped several staff members with substantial money to save their homes, cars, etc. without any restrictions on when they have to pay us back.
What’s ahead for the Alibi Corporation?
We will continue to give our community what they have expected from us for over 15 years; good food, good shows, fair prices, and a fun atmosphere. We have a new menu coming up in the very near future and don’t forget our 16th anniversary which is happening very soon. Stay tuned for the details.
