Living above the Store: Building a Business That Creates Value, Inspires Change, and Restores Land and Community

The economic crash of late 2008 is just the latest evidence of the truth that many have known for so long: that too much of our modern economy is based on a house of cards. We need businesses that not only factor their impact on people and places into their equations for success but also strive to restore the communities and environments in which they operate. How can this be done?

In Living Above the Store, Martin Melaver provides a roadmap for creating such a business. It's not only a "how to" but a "why to" that challenges business as usual to change.

Living Above the Store brings us into the story of Melaver, Inc., a third-generation, 70-year-old family real estate business, as it evolves toward becoming a thought and product leader in sustainable business practices. It is part business management theory and part case study, where sustainable principles meet sustainable practices, always grounded in day-to-day practice.

Living Above the Store demonstrates how to:

• Adopt a business model that provides for economic success while contributing to society and the environment
• Shape a business culture that is restorative to a workforce by helping employees realize their highest potential
• Leverage an ethos within a business that "ripples outward" to foster restoration of both land and community
• Embrace a notion of limits to growth
• Reframe ideas about competition, proprietary knowledge, and business success,

Living Above the Store is for readers who care about issues of community and sustainability as well as for those who want to learn more about how a socially responsible business can first redefine, and then find, success.

Martin Melaver has been CEO of Melaver, Inc., since 1992. Never content with the welltrod path, he has a PhD in literature from Harvard University and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He is actively involved with numerous community organizations in and around Savannah, Georgia. Melaver splits his time between Savannah and Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ray Anderson has become one of the nation's leading spokespersons and advocates for sustainability. He is currently co-chairman of the President's Council on Sustainable Development, and was named the Georgia Conservancy's Conservationist of the Year in 1997. His warm and eye-opening account of the mid-course correction for himself and his company should be required reading for every CEO in the world. Anderson lives with his wife, Pat, in Atlanta. He has two children and five grandchildren.