Tuesday, November 02, 1999
Flynt store moves to Race St.
But building owner wants Hustler gone
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A Hustler Cincinnati sign went up on Race Street on Monday after Judge Mark Schweikert refused to grant a temporary restraining order against the store.
(Gary Landers photos)
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A red-white-and-blue Hustler Cincinnati sign went up on a Race Street building Monday after a judge refused to stop Larry Flynt from opening his new adult book store in Cincinnati.
The sign heralded the beginning of yet another legal battle over Mr. Flynt and his downtown business.
The latest fight went to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on Monday, when the landlord of the building at 609 Race St. told a judge he didn't want Mr. Flynt's store on his property.
Attorneys for the owner, Barry Randman, said Mr. Flynt improperly subleased the property from another tenant without the landlord's knowledge.
“Hustleris moving in under cover of darkness,” said Mr. Randman's attorney, Phillip Smith. “Our client should not be forced to take on Hustler as a tenant.”
Although Judge Mark Schweikert refused to block the store's opening, he will hear more arguments Thursday before deciding whether Mr. Flynt can stay on the property.
The city forced Mr. Flynt to close his store on Sixth Street to make way for the new Contemporary Arts Center.
Mr. Flynt's brother, Jimmy, spent most of Monday stock ing the new store with adult magazines, gifts, lingerie and other sexually oriented items.
He said the store, which could open as early as today, also will carry mainstream books, magazines, jewelry and music.
He said neither he nor his brother did anything wrong when they subleased the property from Mr. Randman's other tenant, Metro Records Inc.
“The only problem they have with us is the name Hustler and Larry Flynt,” he said. “They're prejudiced against us. You'd have thought we were serial killers or something.”
Mr. Smith said his main concern was the damage the Hustler name could do to the property's value and reputation.
He said Mr. Randman intends to market the upper floors of the building as “upscale residential housing,” a plan that could be threatened if the Hustler store is on the first floor.
Potential tenants would be scared off, he said, by the building's apparent association with Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine.
“They are going to open. The sign will go up. The damage will occur,” Mr. Smith said. “We are definitely going to be harmed in attracting res idential tenants.”
He noted that the Hustler store corporation was convicted of pandering obscenity earlier this year for selling explicit videos at the Sixth Street store.
“Hustler is a convicted felon in this city,” Mr. Smith said. “Wherever Hustler has been located, it has been controversial.”
He said other tenants in the building include an optometrist and a clothing store that caters to teens and children.
The new store also is located around the corner from the Cincinnati Athletic Club, which counts Sheriff Simon Leis — a longtime Flynt nemesis — among its members.
Mr. Flynt's attorney, H. Louis Sirkin, said there is no evidence the Hustler Cincinnati store would harm the building's value or other businesses.
He said the value at the Sixth Street location went up after Hustler moved in.
In 1998, he said, an assessment set the value at $150,000. Just six months later, he said, the city of Cincinnati offered more than $300,000 for the property so it could clear the way for the arts center.
“It's merely speculation that there would be irreparable harm if this business opened today,” Mr. Sirkin said.
Judge Schweikert said he could not block the opening of the store based on the evidence he heard Monday. But he said both sides would have a chance to state their cases in more detail Thursday, at which time he would decide whether the store could remain on Race Street.
Even if Hustler wins the fight over the lease, it could face another battle with the city over a new ordinance for sexually oriented businesses.
The law sets strict zoning requirements for businesses that generate most of their sales from sexually oriented material.
Jimmy Flynt said his store would carry a mix of adult and mainstream items, thus avoiding the zoning regulation.
“My plans are to comply with the zoning laws of Cincinnati,” he said.
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