Ton,
I hadn't thought of using symbols. The issue of reflow though is unpredictable so unless I change each potential text box to a symbol preemptively or check them post-scale to see if the text has reflowed (to target my efforts more narrowly), the issue isn't remedied. Seems like a lot of effort for something that should be relatively straightforward. I think this happens because of the way Illustrator handles the optical kerning. As the text gets smaller, the kerning automatically adjusts to account for the tighter spacing inherent with smaller text. I just wish there were a simpler way to perform a scale-down with live text that maintains the original kerning so that the text does not reflow. As I previously noted, perhaps I am asking for too much, a "can't have it both ways" situation.