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128
Gratiot Ave. at 12 Mile Road
Roseville, MI 48066
Fax (810) 771-7340
27676 Franklin Road
Southfield, MI 48034
fax: 248-354-1210
he visited across the country. "This
facility, I believe, gives more value to
the shopper."
It seems as though the only thing
the family-owned business doesn't do
is build its own lighting fixtures. But
that hasn't always been the case.
Just after the turn of the century,
when Detroit Jews were catching the
entrepreneurial bug, Nathan
Silberstein began an electrical con-
tracting business in 1912 to take the
emerging concept of electric lighting
into Detroit homes.
In the early years of the business,
Michigan Chandelier made some of
its own fixtures. But the most popu-
lar selling item was a package of fix-
tures for an entire house priced at
$100. In the 1930s, Silberstein pro-
ceeded to open seven Detroit show:
rooms in the heart of the Jewish
community.
"He wanted to have a place for
customers to come in and see the
lighting he would install in their
homes," said Berne.
By the late 1940s, the Temple
Beth El congregant and his wife,
Regina, began looking to their chil-
dren, Alice, Milton and W. B.
Doner, to continue the family entity.
After serving in the Navy during
World War II, Milton Doner took to
the challenge. As the suburbs began
to boom with construction, Doner
followed close behind with Michigan
Chandelier.
Of Milton and use Doner's three
children — Jacqueline, Richard and
Jill — it was Richard Doner who
expressed an interest in the family
business. When Richard decided to
pursue other interests, Berne
resigned from his chemical engineer-
ing position with Standard Oil
Company to fill the void and satisfy
his own entrepreneurial itch.
"I came and stood in the lighting
showroom and sold lights for five
years," recalled Berne, who is mar-
ried to W. B. Doner's daughter, Judy
Doner Berne.
President of Michigan Chandelier
since 1983, Berne now oversees 64
employees and a business that draws
$16 million in annual sales.
"This company is now 2 1/2 times
as large as it was when I became
president," said Berne. "With this
(Troy facility), we'll be three times as
large by next year."
Michigan Chandelier is headquar-
tered at 20855 Telegraph Road in
Southfield in a building that houses
offices, a wholesale department and
commercial sales. The company's
three full-service facilities are located
at 200 E. Second Street in Rochester,
45319 Grand River in Novi and 190
E. Maple in Troy.
Just six years ago, the family wel-
comed the fourth generation to the
business, hiring Jonathan Ginsberg,
an electrical engineer who married
Berne's daughter, Jennifer.
"Ed (Berne) had a position avail-
able and the timing was right for our
personal lives so we jumped on the
opportunity," said Ginsberg, who left
a high-tech company in Boston to
work in the warehouse. "It was a big
move for me and the family I was
leaving behind, but it was a good
opportunity."
Since joining the firm, Ginsberg
has held four positions and currently
manages commercial lighting, where
he's continued the strong growth pat-
tern begun by his father-in-law.
"The advantage of a family busi-
ness is that you can pass down the
culture and values," said Berne, who
knows every employee by name.
"There's a continuity passed dowi
to me that I'm trying to pass on to
Jon of the values and loyalty over the
years that the various leaders have
been able to engender."
The Bernes, who are longtime
members of the Birmingham Temple
in Farmington Hills, have two other
grown children, David and Deborah.
When he talks about 85 years -of
success in the lighting business,
Berne is quick to credit the skilled
and loyal employees who guide the
customers through their purchases.
Earl Mercer of Harper Woods
joined the staff 65 years ago, after
waiting with four of his friends in an
employment line that stretched a
block and a half long.
"I was offered the job and I said_,
I'd take it if they hired my friends, --)
too. So they hired all five of us,"
recalled Mercer. "Back then, we
worked for $13.50 a week."
Through the years, Mercer has
worked as a salesman at stores in
Detroit, Grosse Pointe, Bloomfield
Township, Rochester and Ann Arbor,
some of which have since closed.
These days, he works part time at
the Southfield location and has no
plans for retirement.
"We're bringing the lighting up to
date and bringing in new items all
the time," said Mercer. "Nowhere do
you get the attention like you do
here ... and the follow-up. All my
customers turn into friends."
❑