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Levaruka catering to southpaws

Store is the country's first dedicated solely to left-handers

By Michael Heitmann
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 21st, 2008 issue

JAN PŘEROVSKÝ/THE PRAGUE POST
Patrik Nacher at Levaruka's store in Karlín, which has to import most of its merchandise from abroad.
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ABOUT LEVARUKA



Levaruka began as an Internet-only store, but the shop's owners realized potential buyers needed to handle their lefty products
Physical stores have opened in Prague and Brno, along with a partnership with another store in Ostrava
Levaruka is wooing corporate clients and has made deals with Microsoft and the Prague Public Transit Company

Pens smear and make writing unreadable. Potato peelers don’t peel. Computer mice cause hand-cramps. These are the minor obstacles left-handed children and adults face every day. And that’s where a store in Prague 8 selling exclusively left-handed items comes in.
Originally, Levaruka.cz (literally meaning “left hand”) was supposed to be an Internet-only store. But owner Patrik Nacher soon realized that his clients needed to acquaint themselves with the site’s merchandise on a first-hand basis, and so he opened Obchod pro levoruké (Store for Lefties) on Křižíkova street in Prague’s Karlín district.
Now, his customers can come in and see the value of a corkscrew that turns counterclockwise. “They don’t have to buy a pig in a poke,” Nacher said.
Levaruka is the first store in the Czech Republic selling solely left-handed products, Nacher said. At times the products in his tiny space, which is covered with photos of left-handed celebrities, blur the line between usefulness and gimmick, like the corkscrew. Some may find it invaluable, while others may argue that a corkscrew, or a screwdriver for that matter, can easily be wielded in either hand.
The idea to start Levaruka was born when co-owner Pavel Marek’s twin daughters turned out to be left-handed. He tried to track down supplies but met little success. In fact, most of the merchandise at Levaruka has to be imported from either Germany or England, although local producers like Koh-i-noor and Centropen in Dašice are also represented.
It’s a natural niche market, since no more than 10 percent of the population is born left-handed. The low rental fees in developing Karlín have helped the business break even. The district is undergoing an ambitious urban renewal program after the 2002 flood. “Karlín is in the wider center, so that it’s an ideal solution for us,” Nacher said.
Nacher estimates his profits to be in a modest dozens of thousands of crowns this year, thanks in part to his parents, who help out by working at the store. He has plans to boost revenues by marketing his products directly to companies, which could be neglecting their lefty employees.
“We want to approach more Czech companies and manufacturers, and ask them to purchase office supplies for their left-handed employees,” Nacher said. The Prague Public Transit Company and Microsoft Czech Republic have already taken the bait.
“We want to offer all our employees the best possible working condition,” said Microsoft spokeswoman Markéta Kuklová. “Although many left-handed people learn with time to use common office equipment, for many of them, specially adapted equipment is easier and more enjoyable to use. All our employees now have the chance to choose for themselves what set of tools they want to use.”
Scissor frustration
Of all office supplies, scissors have long been the bane of left-handers’ existence, since they are asymmetric. Right-handed scissors used left-handedly just won’t work — the thumb and fingers force the cutting blades apart instead of pushing them together — causing much frustration.
Admittedly, most downtown department stores stock one or two models of left-handed scissors, but the variety at Levaruka is remarkable. Kitchen scissors provide more cutting power. Swiss Army knives have the gashes on the other side of the blade, so the left hand can hold the knife while the right thumb pulls out the blades.
Levaruka even stocks universal nail scissors that are — though costly at 390 Kč ($24) — truly ambidextrous. The blades are double-edged, and the handle can be swung around so that the back of the blades becomes the new cutting edge.
Genetically determined to always remain a small minority, left-handers have made gains in the past 40 years. In 1967, Czech schools finally stopped discouraging children who wrote with their left hand, according to Nacher.
Some well-known left-handers have already visited the store and signed their names on the wall: Zuzana Roithová, a member of the European Parliament, actor Tomáš Krejčíř and actress Petra Špindlerová. Pictures of other southpaws line the wall, among them Bill Clinton — in a statistical oddity, former U.S. presidents George Bush Sr., Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford are all southpaws, as are presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama.
While it’s suspect to draw any conclusions from left-handedness’ correlation to political savvy, it can definitely be advantageous in sports: National icon and legendary tennis player Martina Navrátilová raised the game to a new level with her accomplished left-handed serve-and-volley.

Michael Heitmann can be reached at mheitmann@praguepost.com


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