At Crobar nightly: 'We draw people to us'

Cal Fortis and Ken Smith:
South Beach club careerists

Whether melting the snow at their clubs in Chicago or fanned by the hot breezes off Biscayne Bay, Cal Fortis and Ken Smith seem to draw a crowd -- that draws a crowd. Click here to leverage some looks at the lookers the charismatic Smith and Fortis welcome to South Beach's Crobar.

In this story: 'It's like finding the perfect girl' 'We like to throw the party' 'Somebody's going to touch you' 'A very fickle business' RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Jamie Allen
CNN.com Senior Writer

(CNN) -- South Beach and celebrity night life -- the two have become nearly synonymous over the last decade. Miami Beach's Ocean Drive lining the Atlantic is the neon-lit, art-deco epicenter for the high-profile party crowd, and people who just want to have a good time.

And one South Beach nightclub commands the most attention these days. Crobar on Washington Avenue in the heart of the district is the place to see and be seen, a hive of modern-day bacchanalia, thumping music, and late-night revelry.

QUICK VOTE
	Cal Fortis talks with Jamie Allen about the "dark side of the nightclub business" -- the drug trade and other criminal activity often perceived to figure in the industry. If you wanted to run your operation clean -- say a nightclub, like one of Fortis and Ken Smith's Crobars -- would you let such perceptions stop you? No, I'd do it anyway. When it comes to doing what's right for you in business you can't let that kind of bias stop you. I'd have to think about it hard. It could be pretty bad to work your head off, do a good job and be painted as something you're not just on assumption and rumor. Red light for me. I'm not sure it's worth it to walk right into a known reputation-killer of a business. Lots of other things you can do. View Results

"Crobar has absolutely established itself as the place where the celebrities go, where the locals go, where the hottest women go, where the best DJs go," says John Buchanan, editor of South Beach Magazine, which covers the area's booming evening scene.

The nightclub is owned and run by Ken Smith and Cal Fortis, who have been in the business for 20 years. They started in Chicago; they even have a Crobar in the Windy City. But Miami Beach is where their attention lies right now.

"South Beach and Miami proper, the environment is very conducive to clubs," says Smith. "Miami is trying to gentrify downtown, so as of last year they started giving away 24-hour liquor licenses."

Enter Crobar. The 20,000-square-foot restored 1933 theater is their first South Beach experiment. It opened December 29, 1999. An electronic dance club at heart, it features spectacular architecture that includes a proscenium arch, splashy colors, open floors, catwalks, dance floors, and slow-spinning fans.

"It's awe-inspiring," says Fortis, who headed up the $3 million renovation.

When the doors open, the Cristal flows liberally, if you can afford it. A bottle of the champagne costs $700. The clientele is well-versed in the latest fashions, each patron working to look like he or she just stepped out of a Vanity Fair ad. (Perhaps some of them did.)

Each night features a different theme at the club. According to the club's Web site, Sunday is devoted to "Classic Gay Anthems"; Friday features progressive house and trance mixes from local DJs.

Certainly, other clubs offer similar features. For whatever reason -- marketing, good karma, or otherwise -- Crobar has found a mix that attracts "the right people."

"We've gotten really lucky with all the celebrities coming in and making them feel at home," says Fortis. Harrison Ford, Lenny Kravitz, Cameron Diaz, George Clooney, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Matthew McConaughey, Moby and Tommy Hilfiger are among the personalities known to stop by and liven up the party.

But it's not what glitz-watchers might dream about -- Smith and Fortis say they're the last to gush over a big name.

"You draw celebrities by not making a big deal about them," says Fortis.

'It's like finding the perfect girl'

Before joining forces, Fortis and Smith were competitors in Chicago, both running new wave-punk clubs in the early '80s. They opened a club together in 1989.

Today, they run six establishments in Chicago and the South Beach enterprise, which alone employs 100 people.

CROBAR SHOTS
	Career cuturati know the most important move they can make at the club is always into range of a camera. So check out some shots from Crobar. And no, you can't drink these shots.

"I don't think you go into this business to become a millionaire," says Smith. "But it's been a very good living for 20 years and I love the business."

Smith and Fortis say part of their success is a result of learning to work well together.

"We've evolved into a partnership where we know what the other one is doing," says Fortis. "At some point, we stopped being glued to each other at the hip and could cover more ground. He'll handle a party in the big room and I'll be up in the VIP room and I'll know he's down there and he'll know I'm up there, just sort of by the vibe.

"I think it's luck," says Fortis of finding the right busines partner. "It's like finding the perfect girl that doesn't get angry when you don't come home. We've been extremely lucky together."

'We like to throw the party'

They also have the same sensibilities about how much committment is needed to be successful in the nightclub business. It's not just a night job, Smith says.

MESSAGE BOARD
	Do you ever have that bad little feeling that all you're really doing is working your desk job to get ready to run a club like this -- but that you're not getting off the desk? What would it take to make you really go for it?'

"People are like, 'You probably sleep all day.' Well, not quite," he says. "We have a marketing company to run. It's a business, but it's definitely a lifestyle business and we're definitely on-premises. We like to be there. We like to throw the party."

Most of the time, Fortis and Smith say, they rise and shine by mid-morning. They put in long days -- and longer nights.

"We close in South Beach at 5 a.m.," says Smith, 41. "I won't say we stay there until the end every night. But almost always on the weekends. And if there are special parties, you have to see them through. We're there always, as the contact people.

"Pretty much our hobby is the business," says Fortis. "It has its drawbacks because you work all the time."

The business calls for a certain private life, too.

"Neither one of us is married," says Fortis, 40. "It's hard to be married in this business, a lot of hours and a crazy schedule."

' Somebody's going to touch you'

It also calls for many talents. One moment, you're dealing with city hall's historic department, the next with an irate customer. Over lunch, you might be negotiating contracts or doing damage control on a marketing snafu. At night, you're making sure a celebrity has all the champagne he or she needs.

Smith has degrees in photography and industrial design, and Fortis has a design degree. He was also a model with Elite.

Sean "Puffy" Combs -- these days maintaining he's not guilty in his trial on charges of gun possession and bribery -- has been a Crobar patron in South Beach, as has Busta Rhymes

At heart, say Smith and Fortis, a successful nightclub owner needs to have a sincere desire to make people happy.

"You really have to be outgoing and touch people," says Smith. "It's all about service.

"Cal and I are, Number 1, really likeable," says Smith. "Number 2, we draw people to us. Our staff is incredible, particularly in South Beach.

"I have people who genuinely love the business and want to show you a good time and want to remember your name and want to go out with you to another restaurant," says Smith. "Somebody's going to touch you in our building and I believe that's the key to our success."

'A very fickle business'

What's the hardest part of the business?

"Trying to project or control or keep your finger on what's next," says Fortis. "It's a very fickle business. What's cool today is not cool tomorrow. That's really hard. You can't really ever stop. You're never done. So, we have the hottest club in South Beach. What's going to happen next weekend?

"And then you have to have the guts and the experience to do it," says Fortis, "because if you do anything halfway, the chances are great it won't work. And that's in any business."

Other drawbacks: drug and criminal elements that often go hand-in-hand with the nightclub business.

"The dark side of the nightclub business is more romantic and certainly a little closer to the surface than say the darker side of doctors taking their own prescription drugs," says Fortis. "But that happens in every business.

"In terms of the criminal element, we're certainly not criminals," says Fortis with a laugh.

He and Smith say they have plans to expand to other cities. They're eyeing Las Vegas, and they just completed a business trip to Atlanta where they met with a friend -- music producer Dallas Austin, about the possibility of starting a club there.

Fortis sees parallels between what he does with a nightclub and what Austin does with music acts like Madonna and TLC.

"Dallas goes in and takes something from nothing and turns it into a song," says Fortis. "To take something from nothing, literally zero, and then stand there and watch 3,000 people, just completely in their own world, going off, is probably one of the best feelings you could have."

Jason Eaton: First Freedonian
February 12, 2001
'My job is so weird' -- Luis Barajas: Founder, Flaunt magazine
February 6, 2001
Bonnie Hammer: Head humanoid at Sci Fi
February 5, 2001
Legendary Hacienda Club closes
January 8, 2001

Crobar

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.