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Levné Knihy
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Czech label and distributor founded in 1993 by siblings Jan Maivald and Helena Šimková. It is also the name of a chain of low-price book and media outlets in Czech Republic. From 1998 to 2007, it was part of the company [l547548], in 2008 the brand became part of its successor [l298503]. Releases by label "Levné Knihy" can often be recognized by the prefix "LK". Please check, if the logo contains a "KMa" in the right edge. If so, company [l93961] should be entered instead. [b]History:[/b] When the iron curtain fell in 1989 in Czechoslovakia, new companies sprang up like mushrooms in the new market. Also book, music and other media were an interesting field after decades of censorship. In the following years, book and music editors tried their luck, but as expected, many of them had only short-term success. Many stocks of books and media remained after bankruptcy of such new companies. In 1993 siblings Jan Maivald and Helena Šimková opened their own business with cheap books, by trying to sell books and media based on such bankruptcy and liquidation goods. They started a stand with such books at the main train station in Prague and soon, they were able to open their first store in Prague downtown. However, the big wave of liquidations soon died down, which let the founders to consider, where to get new goods to sell. Meanwhile, the company "Levné Knihy" was growing and in 1997, [l547548] was founded. First, it coordinated sales activities, when "Levné Knihy" became exclusive supplier for books and media for the Czech branch of supermarket chain [l41750]. Starting in 2000, KMa s.r.o. also became editor of books and CDs and began acting as a publishing house. The company and product structure became more and more complicated (Stores in Slovakia, a separate music label) and the company leaders decided to consolidate all activities back into one company. [l298503] began in January 2008 and the company also started to act as publisher and editor of movies. In 2014, both founders decided to sell the company to an investor. Levné Knihy still runs more than 40 outlets and an online store. However, the overall market for physical media is about to decrease and led in the past years towards opening for non-media goods.