The Sun sets in North Hills

Published 10/8/98

° Out in the North Hills, where I live, the never-ending battle of overdeveloping a region has claimed yet another victim. Sun Television and Appliances, which for a long time had been planted at North Hills Village Mall along McKnight road, has finally succumbed to the two other electronic store giants that occupy the area: Circuit City and Best Buy.

And I couldn't be happier.

I've had a vendetta on Sun for some time now due to a personal conflict that took place years ago, and ever since then I've been rooting for its downfall.

A couple years ago, my prayers were answered when Best Buy took up residence on the other end of North Hills Village's parking lot, and last summer, when Circuit City showed up nearby, Sun's fate was all but sealed.

When I read that Sun management isn't honoring any of its products' warranties while closing out the store, it only confirmed what I knew all along: that the best store(s) won in this instance.

° Isn't it amazing how children's movies wage some of the most vicious wars in Hollywood today? DreamWorks, a multi-zillion dollar movie studio that brought you "The Peacemaker," just released a family movie about those little critters that show up at your summer picnic: "Antz."

Disney was scheduled to release a movie about those little buggers as well roughly two months from now titleed "A Bug's Life." isn't it a coincidence that one of DreamWorks' founders, Jeffrey Katzenberg, used to work for Disney?

I don't feel sorry for Disney getting chopped by a fellow movie studio. When it comes to cutthroat to corporate tactics, Disney leads the way.

Last year, when 20th Century Fox was about to release its first animated feature film, "Anastasia," Disney countered by releasing its new children's movie "Flubber" and re-releasing its longtime hit "The Little Mermaid." Despite the one-two punch, "Anastasia" still turned a profit at the box office.

° Hustler magazine publisher and First Amendment lobbyist Larry Flynt has expressed interest in buying the Cincinnati Reds from Marge Schott. While some people are saying this will soil the "sacred" image of baseball, others are saying that a porn publisher is still better than Schott. Everybody is still missing the $64 question: What will his promotional giveaways consist of?

° Now that I think about it, why is it when rural areas give big businesses sweet deals to build stores, it's called suburban sprawl, but when cities give the same companies similar deals to build stores downtown, it's called development?

° Was there any doubt during that one-game playoff between the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants that Barry Bonds was going to ground out to first base in the seventh inning with the bases loaded? As soon as I heard who was stepping up to the plate, I knew what would happen.

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