Global connections keep Kave ahead of the game: Richard Kave, director, International Retail, Winick Realty Group.

Even as child, Richard Kave, recently-named director of international retail at Winick Realty Group, had an entrepreneurial spirit.

"As a kid, I had a lawn mowing business," he recalled. "I was the guy who always charged a little more for lemonade at my stand."

So it came as no surprise that, after switching gears in his career, Kave, 55, would not only be looking to succeed, but to pave his own path in the industry.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in East Meadow, Long Island, Kave attended college at the University of New Mexico, where he met his wife of 32 years, Roni Sue.

After serving as chief financial officer of the Dominic's of New York restaurant chain for seven years, Kave had enough of commuting from his home in New York to the chain's corporate offices in Virginia and sold his interests to his partner.

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"I spent a lot of time on the road," said Kave, who currently resides in Manhattan. "It was time to call it quits."

In 2002, after he briefly considered retirement, Kave decided to enroll in the real estate program at Baruch College. The weekend after completing the course, he picked up the classified section in the newspaper and went for the first job he saw--a position at Garrick-Aug Associates, the firm where retail brokerage was pioneered and where some of the city's top retail deal-makers got their start.

The transition into the retail leasing industry came easy once he became comfortable with the business process, but his goal was to set himself apart from the rest of the pack.

"I learned it was a very different business," he said. "There were a lot of younger guys out pounding the streets every day. I wanted to differentiate myself."

Kave applied his love of traveling to his career and decided to set his sights overseas by bringing international buyers to the United States. After two months at Garrick-Aug, he approached Charles Aug about attending the annual MAPIC property show in Cannes, France.

Though he admitted he struggled with the language barrier, Kave said the trip was "an eye-opening experience." It was through networking at the show that he was able to meet with James Andrews and Nick Morgan of KLM properties in London and help found the International Retail Network, a network of retail specialists that includes members in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and the United States.

With his international network, Kave's transition from Garrick-Aug to Winick Realty Group was natural since Winick was looking to expand both nationally and internationally. Kave and his parnter, Paulette Powell (now associate director of international retail at Winick) moved to the new firm last spring and worked to leverage his network involvement to boost international retail business at Winick.

The network now meets three times a year at various locations around the world and has its own booth at MAPIC. And proof of its success can be seen in the recent opening of Whittard of Chelsea--a specialty tea, coffee and giftware retailer based in the United Kingdom--on Boston's Newbury Street; the location was the network's first referral.

Also through Powell's relations with engineers and architects, Kave said the pair has been able to move into advisement and consulting. They have worked on projects from boutique hotels in Manhattan to planned communities in the Middle East.

Their latest endeavor called "Coeur de Lion," French for heart of the lion, is planned for Dakar, Senegal and involves the engineering of Valentine Lehr and design of Michael Graves.

"It's just under 1,000 acres," Kave said. "It is the redevelopment of a former industrial site. Our task is to determine whether it is feasible to build a business and telecommunication center there."

The team recently made a presentation in London and is hoping to make one for the government of Senegal in the near future, according to Kave.

Though plans are not finalized, the broker said they are also planning to include a university with medical and business schools, hotels, residences and a resort.

Though Kave is proud of the recent successes of Winick Realty Group and the International Retail Network, he is even more pleased with the successes of his family.

His son, Corwin Kave, is a chef at Hudson Street's The Fatty Crab and his daughter, Allison, is the director of the Harris Lieberman Gallery.

His wife has recently opened a store at the Essex Street Market selling her homemade chocolates. "Her butter crunch is to die for," admitted Kave.

And when he's not working, Kave is rebuilding a cottage in Duchess County.

"I love hammering things because this business is so stressful," he laughed.