User:Michael Kalmanovitch

Gender: Male

Born: May 8th, 1955

Place of birth: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Marital Status: Single

Children: One son born 1994

Present Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Occupation: Shopkeeper - Founder and Owner of Earth's General Store since 1991

Siblings: Dr. Deborah Kalmanovitch (lives in New Zealand), Patricia Kalmanovitch (lives in China), Dr. David Kalmanovitch (lives in Massachusetts), Nicholas Kalmanovitch (lives in Korea).

Parents: Joyce G. Kalmanovitch (nee Walford) and Ernest Kalmanovitch

I moved to Alberta in 1973 from England where I spent my teenage years going to school and living with my single parent mother and siblings.

I worked in Fort McMurray off and on throughout the 1970s, coal mines in the Canadian Rocky Mountain foothills and the mining industry in Nunavut. In 1982 I graduated as a journeyman partsperson. I have worked in the warehousing/parts industry for most of my working life (outside of working at Earth's General Store).

Edmonton has been my home since the mid-1970s.

I started Earth's General Store as a tool to bring about change. The store operates, looks and feels like a store but its purpose is to inspire and help people to lessen their ecological footprint and social inequities (supporting Fair Trade policies). The sales help the store operate and survive but the real reward is when people let me know how much the store has helped them change their life.

I have been an ecological and social activist for several decades, which is evident in the product offering of the store.