New director set to tap into Winick's worldwide ambitions.

Richard Kave has been named director of international retail at Winick Realty Group.

Kave recalls standing in the crowded convention center in Cannes several years ago wondering if he'd made a mistake by coming to the annual property show held in the lovely seaside town. "Everyone around me was speaking French," recalls Kave.

"My goal was to meet European retailers interested in coming to the US, and I wondered if I would even be able to carry on a conversation."

The turning point, according to the 54-year-old former restaurant CFO, came when he met Ramon Sierra, The International Retail Network's Spanish affiliate. That led to a meeting with James Andrews and Nick Morgan of Kitchen La Frenais Morgan (KLM Properties) of London. Shortly thereafter, the idea of forming an international network of retail specialists was born.

Kave came to Winick Realty Group from Garrick-Aug Associates where he first teamed with Paulette Powell, who has joined him at Winick as associate director of the International Retail Group.

Powell's extensive international contacts have enabled the pair to work on projects as diverse as boutique hotels in Manhattan to planned communities in the Middle East.

"Working with Richard has enabled me to focus on developing my international relationships," said Powell. "As founding members of The International Retail Network we now have the ability to provide our customers with focused brokerage and consulting services virtually anywhere in the world."

Jeff Winick, CEO of Winick Realty Group is excited about the addition of Kave and Powell. "This now enables our firm to truly expand into the global marketplace."

The International Retail Network now includes members in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and the US.

"We're working together to be able to better understand each other's markets. Now we can fully advise our customers who are looking to lease or purchase property in another country and to do international retail rollouts," Powell said. "We get together three times a year in various member countries. Our last meeting was in London, and we'll be together again at ICSC in Las Vegas in May."