Crains New York - March 11, 2013 - (Page 21)

INSIDE HELLUVA TOWN Source Dinner The nightclub that went to Harvard PAGE 22 Out and About The history of flamenco in New York PAGE 23 LightSpeed aids retailers Going digital can be tough on retailers. LightSpeed, a Montrealbased company that provides inventory management and sales solutions, aims to change that. The firm is announcing March 11 that it is opening its U.S. headquarters in Manhattan, taking 3,000 square feet on the third floor of 510 LaGuardia Place. In addition to serving as the LightSpeed office, the space will also be used as a community CHRISTOPHE LANDON has been making violins for 38 years. He came to New York because that’s where his customers are. center, with classes and parties for retailers. Retailers are “looking for new technology to bridge that online and offline gap,” said Dax Dasilva (above), LightSpeed’s founder and chief executive. “There are lots of ways to do that, so we wanted to bring retailers together so they could share what’s working.” Mr. Dasilva plans to hold seminars as often as once a week, in a program similar to Apple’s Genius Bar. LightSpeed, which was founded in 2005 and counts 1,000 New York City retailers as clients—including trendy Saturdays Surf and Vespa— received $30 million in venturecapital funding last year. —adrianne pasquarelli Want maggots with that? Strings attached Mondomusica trade show marks NY’s rise as the center of the world’s musical instrument market I buck ennis Many chefs worry about what to serve discerning diners. Yet few have probably fretted about whether they’ll be able to buy enough goat penises to serve as martini garnishes or whether such animal organs are even a good option for a cocktail decoration. That’s what’s consuming Gene Rurka as he plans the cocktailparty menu for the Explorers Club’s annual dinner, where tickets range from $375 to $1,200 apiece at the Waldorf Astoria later this month. Because the event draws patrons who have sampled nontraditional foods in their exotic travels, Mr. Rurka strives to be creative while working within the confines of what’s available in New York. He’d like to make camel meatballs but isn’t sure he’ll be able to secure enough meat from the humpback creatures to serve a crowd. Mr. Rurka is planning to serve cockroaches with a honey-vinegar infusion and scorpions soaked in ice wine. And he’s also confident there will be enough maggots to sprinkle over the chocolatecovered strawberries, though he doesn’t know if he should alert dessert lovers to what they’ll be eating. “Signs or not? I can’t decide. I don’t want to scare people from eating them,” Mr. Rurka said. —theresa agovino SHOW TIME BY MIRIAM KREININ SOUCCAR talian master Antonio Stradivari’s priceless violins and tools from his workshop will soon be on view for the first time ever in New York City, alongside letters from La Bohème composer Giacomo Puccini to Belle Epoque violinist Riccardo Schnabl Rossi. ¶ The rare artifacts will be part of an exhibition at Mondomusica, a renowned Italian violin and stringed instrument trade show that will make its New York debut March 15 to 17 at the Metropolitan Pavilion and the Altman Building in Chelsea. More than 200 violin and bow makers from 13 countries will show their products at the expo, which originated 27 years ago in Cremona, Italy—the birthplace of the violin.“This is the first large-scale commercial exhibition of violins in the United States,” said Christopher Reuning, a dealer of rare antique violins and modern string instruments who will have a large booth at the fair. ¶ Italian trade fair organizer CremonaFiere is hoping to capitalize on the growing U.S. market for stringed instruments, with New York the main center, it says. The American market for musical instruments overall grew 3.5%, to $260.2 million, in the third quarter of 2012, compared with the same period the previous year, according See VIOLIN on Page 22 200 NUMBER OF EXHIBITORS scheduled to participate at Mondomusica 52 NUMBER OF EXHIBITORS from the U.S., the most of any country March 11, 2013 | Crain’s New York Business | 21

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - March 11, 2013

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
CORPORATE LADDER
OPINION
GREG DAVID
REAL ESTATE DEALS
REPORT: SMALL BUSINESS
STARTUP GUIDE
CLASSIFIEDS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - March 11, 2013