Review by Sustainable Industries Magazine When author Martin Melaver’s family sold their grocery store chain in 1985, 15 percent of the proceeds were distributed to employees past and present—anyone who had worked at the store for more than one year. Later, when the company was established as a large-scale real estate developer, Melaver walked away from an office tower deal when the law-firm client wouldn’t agree to a design that followed the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) specifications. This generous yet unapologetically principled sense of business as more than a profit-generating machine and instead a restorative community force underscores Melaver’s case in “Living Above the Store.” With a blend of autobiography and business analysis, Melaver asks readers to look toward “taking stock,” as he calls it: building a broad sense of your company’s context in not just the market, but a host of social and community context—from energy and waste usage to relationships with individual employees. More impressive than the content of “Living Above the Store,” however, is the spirit and eloquence of the voice. When Melaver cites the Japanese word for optimism, rankkanteki, as “conveying not a notion of utopian faith but the sense of having enough challenges to give life meaning,” he might as well be talking about himself. —Published by Chelsea Green
"Living Above the Store breaks the mold on business writing. It is a book about the greening of business to be sure, but it is literature first, brilliant disquisitions and narratives that place commerce within the broader context of history, culture, and the cherished human values that bind us together. Martin Melaver has enlarged the vocabulary of commerce and restored it to a place of honor, a timely gift in an era of disillusionment." - Paul Hawken, author, The Ecology of Commerce
"Living Above the Store is the right book for these difficult times, when business needs to regain trust. Melaver starts with specific stories of running a family business, sharing successes and failures, frustrations and joys, and then broadens out to illuminate general principles for running a sustainable business. These stories still stick in my mind, long after I have put the book away." - Marc Gunther, contributing editor, Fortune
"Martin describes the evolution of his ideas and practices with refreshing candor and humility. He is a role model for me, my students, and anyone interested in building a values-based, sustainable business." - John Vogel, Adjunct Professor Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
"The most sustainably growing family business leaders, I find, are philsophers of management. Living Above the Store is a complelling example.  Further, it is a wonderful story built on wonderful stories.  All business leaders will be inspired by the power of connecting driving values with convicing stories." - John L. Ward, Clinical Professor Kellogg School of Management and Principal The Family Business Consulting Group
"At long last, a visionary work that reminds us what businesses once were, and can once again be. Martin Melaver has shared with us the story of his remarkable real estate company, eloquently teaching us how to run a business that is not solely about making a buck, but about building a sustainable society. Mandatory reading for leaders from all sectors--business, NGOs and government--who believe that our work should make the world a healthier, kinder and more prosperous place." - Eilon Schwartz, Director Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, Tel Aviv
"There is a third century teaching that says, 'Do not separate yourself from the community.' Commentators since have interpreted this to mean that even if one can accomplish more alone, distancing oneself weakens the entire community. The unique contributions of every individual are critical to the dialogue and discussion which nourish the community. Martin Melaver offers his own commentary on the building and sustaining of community. Each chapter is multi-layered and engaging. Not only does Melaver aspire to connect his actions to a vision of 'Building a Business That Creates Value, Inspires Change, and Restores Land and Community,' but he inspires others to do so as well." - Rabbi Nina J. Mizrahi, Director Pritzker Center for Jewish Education Jewish Community Centers of Chicago
"Martin Melaver's beautiful retelling of his family and business experience provides valuable professional management directions for realizing ethically based business practices that are crucial to our society's health. General readers will also be inspired by the author's advice, personal journey, and approaches to the challenges he's taken on." - Michael Singer, artist/designer
"Martin Melaver's Living Above the Store about the transformation of his third-generation family business is engaging and informative.  It is a story of remarkable change through a thoughtful, collaborative dialogue of discovery with his family, colleagues and community.  He challenges conventional tenets and offers a business plan utilizing diversity, shared values, common purpose and a land-community ethic that is restorative for human and nature.  Living Above the Store is for readers interested in realizing a business' highest potential and regaining a more authentic sense of themselves or for anyone wanting to develop a life plan for the 21st Century. - Bob Berkebile, BNIM Architects
"A truly superb work, Living Above the Store has challenged my thinking about management, and Southface will be a better organization as a result. Martin Melaver is smart and articulate, and has the courage to be honest. Creating a sustainable economy requires a transformational shift in the thinking of business. Melaver embraces this challenge and his book is a compass not only for businesses, large and small, but also for government, non-profits, and even individuals." - Dennis Creech, Executive Director, SOUTHFACE Responsible Solutions for Environmental Living
"How would a business operate if people and values mattered as much as profit? Melaver's exploration of this question is so compelling not because he knows, but because he is so frank about his quest to find out."   - Nadav Malin, President, BuildingGreen, LLC
"Martin Melaver has expressed the deepest aspirations of what it means to be a developer. He's done so in the most purposeful and important sense of the word - to create added value and new potential in the whole system of life. If all developers can work towards achieving this purpose we actually have a shot at what's required of us to achieve a sustainable and thriving condition." - Bill Reed, Principal, Integrative Design