NZ’s own ‘Leftorium’: New Zealand’s only dedicated left-handed store opens

Sick of trying to adapt to using items designed for right-handed people, a Christchurch woman has opened the country’s only business dedicated to left-handers.

Growing up as a left-handed child, Alyson Harris said she always struggled.

“I couldn’t write without smudging my work; I would always cut bread on an angle, thinking I was useless at cutting bread; I would use a tape measure upside down; and scissors would hurt my hand,” she said.

But she was never able to find left-handed products to use in New Zealand. Instead, she had to buy them from overseas.

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So just like Ned Flanders in The Simpsons, she started her own left-handed store dedicated to the lefties. But she called it Elite Left, not the Leftorium.

It’s a comparison Harris said she had heard a few times.

“I do find it funny. It’s good that people find it relatable. Also, left-handers outnumber right-handers in The Simpsons, so I’d say some of the production team are lefties.”

In The Simpsons town of Springfield, one in three people were left-handed, compared to New Zealand’s 10%.

“I researched products, and thoroughly looked into starting a business, and eventually got everything together to launch in October 2021,” Harris said.

Elite Left’s bestsellers were the left-handed scissors, can openers, tape measures and quick-drying pens.

It also offered an extensive range of products for the kitchen, garden, stationery, giftware, construction/DIY, young writer’s books and PC accessories.

As well as running the store, Harris was still working as an office manager in Christchurch for a construction company.

“Helping the left-handed community has been really rewarding, and I’ve had a lot of positive feedback. It’s a right-handed world out there, and I wanted to show people that they didn’t have to put up with right-handed goods when there is a left-handed version out there.”