After a stellar $7 lunch at El Puerco Lloron, blogdaughter and I perused the subterranean stores of Seattle's Pike Place Market, known collectively as "Down Under." And it's not entirely crud.

We happened upon Lefty's World, a small specialty shop there selling stuff for Lefties, and I'm not talking about Seattle political activists - they've already got the town's best-known independent bookstore and a bunch of others to choose from.

Lefty's World sells spiral notebooks with the wiry binding on the right - now there's an outstanding product, as any Lefty would testify! They've got other Lefty-friendly merchandise: butter knives, spatulas, scissors, corkscrews, garden shears, and Lefty identity goods such as computer mouse pads and T-shirts.

Among the Ts I liked were, "It's a Lefthanded Thing...You Wouldn't Understand;"

"Hire The Lefthanded - It's Fun to Watch Them Write;"

and "I'm Lefthanded - What's Your Excuse?"

Owner Tom Gardner, 69, tells me he's been in business at The Market four-and-a-half years, and sales have exceeded what he envisioned in his business plan. The typical customer, he says, is a 40ish female who's not lefthanded, buying something for a Lefty family member.

And yes, I'm lefthanded. Like a few other luminaries.

INFO: Lefty's World, 1501 Pike Pl., #311, 206-332-1900. Hours: Tues.-Fri., 10 to 5; Sat., 10 to 6.

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Posted by Matt Rosenberg at August 17, 2005 09:04 PM