THE POST-STANDARD

PSCONTACT USYou can reach the newsroomby calling 470-2265 or submit newsby email to business@syracuse.com BBUSINESSUSINESS

SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2011, PAGE D-1

S T O R E F R O N T Greetings, (fill in the blank),and welcome to NewhouseCAROUSEL

HAS LOTSOF SPACETO FILL

SU’s alumni team withschool for personalizedvideos for new students.By Ken SturtzContributing writer

What are the chances ofcoming face to face withyour favorite celebrity, smil-ing and personally congratu-lating you on getting intocollege?

Pretty good if that collegeis Syracuse University’s S.I.Newhouse School of PublicCommunications.

The college has partneredwith a digital media compa-ny to deliver two SU gradu-

ates — Contessa Brewer, anMSNBC anchor, and DennisCrowley, co-founder ofFoursquare website — to thedesktops of the school’s 300incoming freshmen.

The students are receivingan email with a customizedvideo message from the twoalumni congratulating themon choosing SU and reassur-ing them they’ve made thebest decision of their lives.Each video begins withBrewer greeting the studentby name.

It’s the first time incomingstudents will receive a per-sonalized video message, in-stead of a regular email or

letter welcoming them to theuniversity.

The customized videomessages are the creation ofanother Newhouse alumnus:Eric Frankel, who is thefounder and CEO of Star-Greetz. He graduated fromSU in 1980 and went to workfor Warner Bros. the nextday. A few years ago, he de-cided to try something newand started StarGreetz.

After less than two years,his Los Angeles companyhas 24 employees and pro-duces personalized messagesfrom celebrities for every oc-casion and nearly every form

NEWHOUSE, PAGE D-4

BOB NIEDTR E T A I L N O T E B O O K

This ques-tion has beencenter stagesinceWednesdaymorning: Willthere be morethan just luxu-

ry outlets, restaurants and afunky bowling alley conceptfor the Carousel Center mallexpansion?

That and many other ques-tions from Store Front readerswent into hyperdrive lastweek. The Post-Standard re-ported the names of 14 mostlyupscale retailers with signedleases ready to go into Carou-sel Center’s long-vacant, near-ly 1 million-square-foot ex-pansion.

Through sources, we’vetrickled out some of those con-firmed names before: SaksFifth Ave. OFF Fifth and TheMelting Pot, to name two.

Storefront reported in April2010 that Pyramid has beenpursuing, among other high-enders, Neiman Marcus —though it wasn’t on the listWednesday. But know this: Itisn’t OFF the list, either.

We also reported at the timethat part of the focus of the ex-pansion was heading towardhigh-end outlets.

But what was confirmed lastweek is only a small part; therest of the expansion needs tobe filled, and it won’t all beoutlets. And there’s a lot morespace to fill in that expansion.The names mentioned lastweek account for just 15 per-cent of the total space builtonto the southwest side of theback of the mall.

What drew the first tenantsto the expansion bodes wellfor the remainder: Carousel isnot just ‘‘our’’ mall; it’s a su-per-regional mall. Those re-tailers aren’t landing there justto bring in shoppers from Cen-tral New York. Carousel is amajor draw for Upstate andSouthern Tier shoppers, reach-ing down to northeasternPennsylvania, and north to theCanadian shoppers who helpedsave the Syracuse retail marketin the depths of the Great Re-cession.

Ottawa residents especiallydon’t have ‘‘all in one place’’malls the size of Carousel. It istruly a destination, a resort, avacation. Throw in the numberof people from out of CentralNew York who shop there, SUand other college students andfamilies, plus Central NewYorkers, and . . . well, it addsup.

It’s likely why Saks is com-mitted to coming here. It’slikely why Gordon BierschBrewery Restaurant is cominghere.

On that: Unlike upscale TheMelting Pot, which is openinga restaurant in Rochester andhas one in Albany, California-based Gordon Biersch Brew-ery Restaurants are in only 16states — mostly in the Sunbelt— and the District of Colum-bia. The Washington, D.C.,Gordon Biersch is the closestone to Syracuse. There is nonein the Northeast. That’s a‘‘get’’ for Carousel.

OK, ’nough said for now.Your turn. Tell me what

you’d like to see in the expan-sion.

At noon Monday, head overto syracuse.com and hang outfor your lunch hour. I’m goingto be there for a live onlinechat about the expansion andanything else retail you wishto discuss. You can ask ques-tions and I’ll try to answer, atthe time or down the road. Butmore than a Q&A, we want tohear your Dream Team, Top 5,whatever, to help fill the restof the Carousel Center expan-sion.

MALL, PAGE D-4

Courtesy of StarGreetzDENNIS CROWLEY, co-founder of Foursquare website,and Contessa Brewer, an MSNBC anchor, offer a comput-er-aided personal message in this video produced for Syr-acuse University and delivered to incoming freshmen atits S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Brew-er graduated from Newhouse in 1996, Crowley in 1998.

Frank Ordo~nez / The Post-StandardTHE GEM diner in Syracuse, formerly The Little Gem, reopened Friday for business with about triple the seating, a renovated kitchen and an ex-panded menu. The diner also added beer and wine.

By Charles McChesneyStaff writer

W ith practiced efficiency,Doug LaLone moved fromthe kitchen to the counter

and then the tables of The Gem dinerearly Friday morning. It was openingday for the expanded version of whathad been, for decades, The LittleGem.

LaLone, with 10 years of experi-ence in restaurants, has revived thediner at the corner of Liberty andSpencer streets in Syracuse, leasingit from Salt City Enterprises.

Until a few weeks ago, he was themanager of Mama Nancy’s, a dineron nearby State Fair Boulevard.

Television news crews were inter-viewing customers of the reviveddiner, their bright lights contrastingwith the gray, wet sky dawning out-side. LaLone moved amid the crews,checking tables, asking diners if theywere all set and offering refills oncoffee.

Asked how he’s going to makeThe Gem succeed where the previousowner could not, LaLone said therestaurant’s expansion from roughly50 seats to about 150 is key. The big-ger restaurant will allow him to do abigger volume of business, whichwill help cover costs such as rent andutilities and, he hopes, leave some-thing for the bottom line.

But that expansion cost moneyand time. LaLone wouldn’t say howmany dollars have gone into the ad-ditions, which have included a pri-vate dining room, a dining deck andan ice-cream stand at the landmarkstainless-steel diner, or the renova-

tions to the kitchen. It’s in the hun-dreds of thousands of dollars, hesays.

‘‘It’s less than a million, but wecan see that number from here,’’ La-Lone said.

The investment pushed him to getthe restaurant opened sooner. Thathad him working 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.,he said, ‘‘living on coffee and candybars.’’

In the opening hours, there weresome glitches: A grill wasn’t work-ing right and some of the $15,000worth of food that was needed tosupply all the items on the menuhadn’t arrived yet, he said.

That extensive menu is anotherpart of what LaLone thinks willbring success. It features diner stan-dards such as two eggs and toast for$2.25 and a cup of coffee for $1.35,

but it also includes filet mignon andeggs for $14.95. The filet is tied withthe Italian platter as the most expen-sive items on the menu.

‘‘It’s as upscale as a diner can get,we believe,’’ LaLone said.

Many of those eating in the diner’sopening moments are old fans. EdHardenburgh, of Warners, first came

THE GEM, PAGE D-4

DOUGLaLONE(right), ownerand operatorof The Gem,stands withLen Montreal,of Salt CityEnterprises,which ownsthe building,outside therestaurant.

Frank Ordo~nez / The Post-Standard

AA GEMGEM IN A FINE SETTINGIN A FINE SETTINGWITH MORE SEATING AND AN EXPANDED MENU, SYRACUSE DINER REOPENS FOR BUSINESS

INSIDEWhy not use an old computer to build a low-cost, high-fidelity music server? Here’s how oneexpert did it. D-2

PAGE D-4 THE POST-STANDARD Sunday, June 19, 2011

F O R T H E R E C O R D BUSINESSBusiness certificatesBusiness certificates for thefollowing companies havebeen filed at the OnondagaCounty clerk’s office:June 8Specialty Residential, 302 Church

St., North Syracuse, JonathanMorgan Campbell, same ad-dress.

Dahals Grocery Store, 947 N. Sali-na St., Syracuse, Dadhi R. Dahal,400 Pond St., Apt. 1, Syracuse.

FARAH, 115 Solar St., Apt. 306,Syracuse, Andrew MichaelFarah, same address.

Awesome Deals, 2803 BrewertonRoad, Syracuse, Charles JohnBlackman, 64 Van Anden St., Au-burn.

Joshua Kerrick, 8827 Avery Road,Baldwinsville, Joshua Kerrick,same address.

BRAINYSCOPE, 6601 Rutger Road,East Syracuse, Vanessa J. Bag-gett, same address.

Atmosphere Apparel, 738 N. Sali-na St., Syracuse, Timothy Kazel,6112 Cobblestone Drive, D7, Cic-ero.

Upstate Sealcoat, 7857 W. DeadCreek Road, Baldwinsville, Thom-as Czyz, same address.

Gossamer Designs, 404 PleasantAve., North Syracuse, KimberlyM. Oliver, same address.

Red Licorice, 3931 Lang-horne Lane, Camillus, DanielSchultz, 9374 North Road,Bridgeport, Kimberly Venuti,3931 Langhorne Lane, Camillus.

Upstate Sealcoat, 4115 Wafer AshWay, Liverpool, Aaron M. Bullis,same address.

I Have A Sweet Tooth, 121 Croy-den Lane, Apt. C, DeWitt, FrankJ. Smith, same address.

Razzle Dazzle Photo Booths, 112Kasson Ave., Suite 473, Camillus,Amy Gagne, 16 Sherman St., Au-burn.

Elbridge Wellness Etc., 243 E. MainSt., Elbridge Plaza, Elbridge, Me-linda Chilson, 684 IdlewoodBlvd., Baldwinsville.

June 9Andres Auto Repair, 631 S. West

St., Syracuse, Andres M. Cruz,146 Berger Ave., Syracuse.

Lakeland Auto Repair, 838 StateFair Blvd., Syracuse, Timothy Jo-seph Murphy, 30 Dutchess Lane,Fulton.

Leak Proof Seamless Rain Gutters,7766 Barbara Lane, Baldwinsville,Gary M. Peterson, 132 Caster-bridge Lane, Baldwinsville.

Vtrain Property Maintenance, 218Millen Drive, North Syracuse,Evan Paul Vautrain, same ad-dress.

Familia Pizza, 8005 state Route 31,Bridgeport, Faruk Krasniqi, 3683Junco Trail, Liverpool.

Penny’s PC Supply & Repair, 3895Split Rock Road, Camillus, PennyW. Hillman, same address.

Studio At The Towers, 821 E.Brighton Ave., Syracuse, Julie E.Dyck, 5902 Beadle Drive, James-ville.

Natural Mystic, 437 Stafford Ave.,Syracuse, Brandon Stephen,same address.

Trif Administrative Services, 2563Ellsworth Road, Baldwinsville,Nicolina Trifunovski, 233 CoeAve., Oneida.

June 10Sweet Lemonade, 325 W. Molloy

Road, Syracuse, Deborah A.MacMaster, same address.

Faisons Painting, 346 CortlandAve., Syracuse, Michael LamarFaison, same address.

C J Mechanical, 322 GlenwoodAve., Syracuse, Charles W. Jan-ack, same address.

Podarok Express, 142 SunridgeAve., Camillus, Vasyl Podaru-nok, same address.

June 13WWW.CUSTOMSTUFFUSA.COM,

226 Walters Drive, Liverpool, Cus-tom Stuff Inc., same address.

The Gem, 832 Spencer St., Syra-cuse, TDL Inc., same address.

ROJIMUSIC, 108 E. Washington St.,Syracuse, Roji Ltd., same address.

A Keith’s Brewing Co., 2885 Bel-gium Road, Baldwinsville, Anheu-ser-Busch Inc., One Busch Place,

St. Louis, Mo.Franciscan Lifeline, 7246 Janus

Park Drive, Liverpool, FHS Ser-vices Inc., same address.

UHS Home Care, address notgiven, Professional Home CareInc., 4401 Vestal Parkway E., Ves-tal.

HRIM Enterprise, 6328 HardwoodLane, Cicero, Karuppiah K. Na-tarajan, same address.

Melissa Morgan Photography, 210Carlton Road, Syracuse, MelissaA. Morgan, same address.

Telasero Design, 309 Bryant Ave.,Syracuse, Andrew Carioti, sameaddress.

Syracuse Dispatch Company, 514First St., Liverpool, Jaime Manzi,124 Willow Tree Terrace, Oneida.

Ace Medical Transportation, 514First St., Liverpool, Jaime Manzi,124 Willow Tree Terrace, Oneida.

Syracuse Auto Car Care Center,514 First St., Liverpool, JaimeManzi, 124 Willow Tree Terrace,Oneida.

June 14Sangha: Center For Mind Body And

Spirit, 52 Oswego St., Baldwins-ville, George J. Moore, 221 Os-wego River Road, Phoenix.

Marietta Metal Fab, 3564 JC Ave.,Marietta, Jeffrey Todd Unger,same address.

Elite Audio & Cycle, 222 BeecherSt., Syracuse, James PatrickMcHale, same address.

Name Ur Price, 514 Wayne St., Syr-acuse, Jayson Spears, 705 Haw-ley Ave., Syracuse.

MFC Marketing Services, 216 Vic-toria Park Drive, Liverpool, MaryF. Kalaska Capria, same address.

Marcel’s Contracting Systems, 605Richmond Ave., Syracuse, Marce-lino Molina, same address.

Leon’s Car Wash, 3339 MiltonAve., Syracuse, Leon R. Sakran,100 Mayson Ave., Syracuse.

PartnershipsBusiness certificates for thefollowing partnerships havebeen filed at the OnondagaCounty clerk’s office:June 10Miner Indulgences, 118 Smith

Road, Syracuse, Amanda M.Miner, same address, Jeffrey A.Miner, same address.

Discontinuance certificatesDiscontinuance businesscertificates for the followingcompanies have been filed atthe Onondaga County clerk’soffice. Discontinuances do notnecessarily mean a companyhas gone out of business. Theyare also filed when owners ornames change, for example, orwhen a company reorganizesitself.June 8CNY Elderplanning, 12 Bradley St.,

Marcellus, Kathleen K. McGa-han, same address.

Upstate Sealcoat, 7857 W. DeadCreek Road, Baldwinsville, Thom-as Czyz, same address.

June 9Leak Proof Seamless Rain Gutters,

7766 Barbara Lane, Baldwinsville,Gary M. Peterson, 25 OswegoSt., Apt. No. 2, Baldwinsville.

Lane No. 17 Pro Shop, 45 E.Genesee St., Baldwinsville, GaryM. Peterson, 9 Parkway Drive,Baldwinsville.

Penny’s PC Supply & Repair, 3895Split Rock Road, Camillus, PennyWinifred Amy Hillman, sameaddress.

June 10Mayerstone Contractors, 1101

Teall Ave., Syracuse, RalphFeatherstone, same address,Philip Mayers, same address.

June 13Life’s Short Eat Cookies, 3168 Pep-

perwood Bend, Marcellus, Step-hanie A. Reilly, same address.

Hoover Medical, 3157 BeckerRoad, Skaneateles, Michael Pat-rick Hoover, same address.

The Gem had 300 applicants for 45 jobsTHE GEM, FROM PAGE D-1to The Little Gem in 1958. He stoppedby Friday morning for coffee and agrilled hard roll. Retired, he said heused to come to The Little Gem forbreakfast and lunch on work days.

‘‘I love diners,’’ he said, mention-ing several in Central New York thatare worth visiting. ‘‘I think it veryAmericana.’’

There are nostalgic touches aroundthe diner, but LaLone said the staff isdifferent. It’s not that he avoided oldLittle Gem hands; it’s that he hadmore than 300 people apply to work atThe Gem during the first four hours heoffered applications. He hired 45,enough to staff the dining space andthe kitchen, which now operates ontwo levels.

LaLone said the broad offerings of alarge tri-fold menu put him ahead ofcompetitors and broaden the appeal ofthe restaurant. And the Gem, unlikeThe Little Gem, serves beer and wine.

He pictures a family coming for din-ner: Children are able to order wafflesfrom the breakfast page while the par-ents enjoy steak or an Italian platter.As the parents relax on the dining deckwith a glass of wine, the children canhit the ice-cream stand.

The diner’s hours will be a bigchange for some old fans. Until a bitbefore it closed in 2010, The LittleGem was a 24-hour-a-day operation.The Gem is open from 6 a.m. to 11

p.m. on weekdays and 6 a.m. to mid-night on weekends, LaLone said.

The hours were dictated by the addi-tion of wine and beer, LaLone said. ‘‘Ididn’t want people to come in fiveminutes to 2 a.m. or five minutes after2 a.m. and try to get a beer out of oneof our wait staff.’’ The hours allowhim to avoid those conflicts.

At the table that serves as his tem-porary office — because his office isstill filled with boxes — LaLone takes

a brief break, looking over a page of ayellow legal pad covered with notes.

The first task, he said, is to pay offthe debt accumulated getting the dinerexpanded and up and running.

His break over, he’s back up andmoving from table to table, asking awoman if everything is OK with hermeal and asking a couple if they needanything.Contact Charles McChesney atcmcchesney@syracuse.com or 470-2244.

Frank Ordo~nez / The Post-StandardDOUG LaLONE, owner and operator of The Gem, makes his way throughthe diner Friday as customer Matthew Richard (center, facing camera) pre-pares to pay for breakfast.

Dick Blume / The Post-StandardAT THE CORNER of Liberty and Spencer streets in Syracuse, The Gem diner reopened for business at 6 a.m. Friday,the streets outside still wet from morning rain.

Newhouse videos greet students by nameNEWHOUSE, FROM PAGE D-1of media. Consumers andadvertisers can choose froma dizzying array of celebritygreetings, eCards, eInvita-tions, ringtones, voicemail,and personalized Facebookand website videos.

The process involves put-ting the desired celebrity ina studio where he or she re-cords a message. Then

comes the customization,which can include dozens ofvariables.

The celebrity spends sev-eral hours reading about 750names and multiple genericphrases. That covers roughly88 percent of the names outthere, Frankel said. (Thosewhose names aren’t avail-able would receive a genericgreeting.)

The real magic of Star-Greetz comes next, Frankelsaid.

The company’s system al-most instantly puts the ce-lebrity’s separate takes to-gether without help fromhumans. Frankel likens it toa really smart editing ma-chine. With it, the companycan deliver tens of thou-sands of personalized mes-

sages.‘‘The world of celebrities

is big and getting bigger . . .and one size doesn’t fit all,anymore,’’ Frankel said.

The company made thegreetings for free for New-house. Normally, the costfor similar video greetings is$50,000 to $125,000, de-pending on the number ofmessages.

People are interested inthe brand, he said, whetherthat brand is Lady Gaga,Katy Perry or the Newhouse

School.It might have been that

mentality that brought Star-Greetz a partnership withNewhouse. Frankel wasshowing Newhouse DeanLorraine Branham how thetechnology worked whenshe asked if it could workfor the school.

Frankel credited his suc-cessful company to his timeat Syracuse University, andhe said he learned one of themost important lessons forhis business while at New-house.

‘‘The trick is to keep oninventing and keep innovat-ing,’’ Frankel said. ‘‘Wehaven’t even scratched thesurface.’’Contact Ken Sturtz atksturtz@syracuse.com or470-2259.

You can watch avideo of one of theNewhousegreetings atsyracuse.com/business

To advertise: kmccormick@syracuse.com or 315-470-3042.

ALSO AVAILABLE AT SELECT RETAIL LOCATIONS

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Mall to get automated postal centerMALL, FROM PAGE D-1

Be reasonable or think big,but don’t goof on The BigEmpty.

Rather, the Big MostlyEmpty.

Express checkout4 The United States Postal

Service split from CarouselCenter, but the service will

soon be automated at the mall.The grand opening of theUSPS’s Automated PostalCenter is at 10 a.m. Wednes-day. It’s in the Hallmark GoldCrown store near J.C. Penney.

4 Here’s another freebie,and it’s for everyone: CentralNew York Tim Hortons restau-rants are giving out free, smalliced coffees or iced teas to

anyone who wants one. That’sall day Tuesday, the first dayof summer.Store Front run Fridays in CNY andSundays in The Post-StandardBusiness section, andblog.syracuse.com/storefront isupdated regularly. The Store Front e-newsletter is sent on a regular basisto Friends of Store Front. You canalso join and connect with Store Frontat the Post-Standard on Foursquare.Contact Bob Niedt atbniedt@syracuse.com.

TO PLACE A COUPON AD:470-2006 | mpiraino@syracuse.com

CLIP or CLICKLook for money-saving coupons

Wednesday and Saturdayin The Post-Standard

and online all the time at

/coupons

ThePost-StandardNEWSPAPERS MAGAZINES ONLINE VIDEO

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www.syracuse.com/food

WEDWhat’s for

dinner?