The Vertical Sidewalk is a Substack exploring the art and science of creating better storefronts and stronger commercial streets. Drawing on retail strategy, design, placemaking, and real-world examples, it looks at the details that make ground-floor businesses inviting, memorable, and successful—and at how individual storefronts contribute to the vitality and character of the neighborhoods and downtowns around them.

Molly Alexander is a downtown revitalization and economic development leader with more than three decades of experience across the public and private sectors. Through Imagine The Possibilities Consulting and her own retail businesses, she works with communities on retail, redevelopment, and downtown strategy.

MJB Consulting is a retail planning and real estate consulting firm focused on helping downtowns, commercial districts, developers, and communities understand what makes retail environments work. Based in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, the firm approaches retail as more than a collection of shops and restaurants: because it occupies the ground floor and meets people directly at the sidewalk, retail plays an outsized role in how a street, district, or community is experienced.

Storefront Mastery works with downtown organizations, local governments, and independent businesses to turn storefronts into active contributors to the life and economic health of their districts. Founded by Jaime Izurieta, its approach treats the storefront not simply as the entrance to a business, but as the place where commerce meets the public realm—and where design, storytelling, hospitality, and customer experience can help give a street its identity.

Jaime Izurieta is an architect, designer, urban development consultant, and founder of Storefront Mastery, where he works with downtown organizations and small businesses to rethink the relationship between storefronts, sidewalks, and thriving local economies.

Michael Berne is a retail planning and real estate consultant whose work focuses on the role shops, restaurants, and ground-floor businesses play in the life of downtowns and commercial districts. Through MJB Consulting, he advises cities, districts, developers, and communities on retail strategy and urban vitality.

Bright Brothers Strategy Group is a people-first, data-driven consultancy that works with cities, districts and DMOs on strategic planning, marketing, and placemaking.
From connecting with your constituents and target audiences, to mapping out customer journeys and strategic touchpoints that drive tangible results, to human-centered placemaking initiatives, Bright Brothers Strategy Group is on the cutting edge of the intersectionality between urban planning, vibrant places and economic impact. We've worked with dozens of downtowns and districts around the country, and understand that every community starts with one thing: people.

Josh Yeager is a founder and principal at Bright Brothers Strategy Group and has been an active champion of the Urban District Place Management world and a vocal advocate for great places and great people.

Josh has been a guest and a guest host on Sidewalk Ballet and brings a depth and breadth of experience in making great places.