Summary Bio:
As the President of New York City and San Francisco Bay Area-based MJB Consulting (MJB), Michael Berne is one of North America’s leading experts and futurists on Downtown and Main Street retail as well as the retail industry more generally. He is a regular speaker at IDA conferences and has served on IDA’s Board of Directors, including a term as the Vice Chair of its Executive Committee.
Full Length:
Michael Berne is one of North America’s leading retail experts and futurists. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he sees his role not only in terms of grasping the contours and dynamics as they exist today, but also, anticipating the shifting trajectories, second-order effects and paradigm shifts that await us tomorrow.
As the Founder and President of MJB Consulting (MJB), Michael has amassed more than twenty years of experience in conducting market analyses, devising revitalization strategies, recommending tenanting schemes, advising on site plans, guiding land use / zoning policies and spearheading implementation / recruitment efforts on behalf of BID's / BIA's, municipalities, developers and others across the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Michael is a regular presenter and keynote speaker at industry conferences, including those of the International Downtown Association (IDA), the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the National Main Street Center, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the American Planning Association (APA) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI), among others.
Michael has lectured at the University of Pennsylvania, Pratt Institute, City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of California, Berkeley. He co-teaches IEDC’s “Neighborhood Development Strategies” course. He has served on expert advisory panels for both the IEDC and ULI. He has been quoted often in high-profile publications such as the Financial Times, Planning, Governing, TheStreet, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Washington Post and Bloomberg Businessweek, among others.
In addition to his widely-read “Retail Contrarian” blog, Michael is a contributor to and founding Board member of the American Downtown Revitalization Review (ADRR). He has penned numerous articles for magazines such as Shopping Center Business, IEDC’s Economic Development Journal, CNU's Public Square, ULI’s Urban Land and Dow Jones & Co.’s MarketWatch, among others.
He has contributed sections to two recent books, Suburban Remix: Crafting the Next Generation of Urban Places (edited by David Dixon and Jason Beske; Island Press, 2018) and Main Street’s Comeback (written by Mary Means; Hammondwood Press, 2020).
Michael served two terms on IDA’s Board of Directors (2009 - 2015), including two years as a Vice Chair of its Executive Committee (2013 – 2015). He also chaired IDA’s Top Issues Council on Diverse Retail Mixes in 2017.
Before founding MJB, Michael worked on market studies and commercial revitalization for a planning consultancy, leasing and acquisitions for an urban retail developer, and policy analysis for a citywide elected official.
He received a B.A. degree from Columbia University (Columbia College) in New York City, and an M.Phil degree from Cambridge University (Gonville & Caius College) in the U.K.
Born in New York City, Michael currently splits his time between residences/offices in Manhattan’s Union Square and Berkeley’s Elmwood neighborhood.