Category: default || By jt3y

If beggars can't be choosers, then the Mon Valley shouldn't turn up its nose at the prospect of another Wal-Mart. But is one really necessary in Duquesne?

Needed or not, Arkansas' answer to the Death Star has apparently purchased the half-vacant Kennywood Plaza shopping center, at least according to the rumors that Jen Vertullo of the News is trying to nail down:

Wal-Mart reportedly purchased the plaza, but Kimco site managers and Wal-Mart district officials couldn't be reached to confirm the sale. Reports were not made regarding the sale or availability of Kmart's parcel.

Wal-Mart recently opened a small store in a Bethel Park shopping center which also features a Giant Eagle supermarket and dollar store. Also, there is talk about the possible opening of Wal-Mart in Monroeville.

Duquesne officials said they have no official comment regarding Wal-Mart's interest in property within the city.

A search of the county's real estate Web site last night revealed no recent sales of property to or by Kimco Realty --- a real estate trust which owns many past and current Kmart locations --- but the database is sometimes months out of date.

(Also, it's not entirely clear from the county's online data which Kimco parcel is which; Kimco also owns the old Kennywood Mall on the other side of Hoffman Boulevard, which is in West Mifflin. The only Kimco parcel in Duquesne is assessed at $1.5 million, but the county's database doesn't put a clear address on it, and the attached "image" is a picture of Kennywood Mall, which would seem to be erroneous.)

Back to the point --- and there was one, believe me --- that beggars can't be choosers, and redeveloping Kennywood Plaza for any use would seem like an improvement over what's there: a craft store, a thrift store, a dollar store and an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. No offense to any of those tenants, but they're not doing much for the surrounding economy. The Ponderosa restaurant that was nearby closed quite some time ago, and the Taco Bell es muerto, tambien. I suspect business would have been much better with the traffic a Wal-Mart would generate.

So, while I'm not a Wal-Mart fan, I'd rather see them go into a town like Duquesne and reuse an old site than watch them plow up another 20 acres of vacant farmland out in the suburbs somewhere.

But can Duquesne sustain a Wal-Mart when it couldn't sustain either a Kmart or an Ames? Admittedly, those two chains had outside problems when they folded their Duquesne locations, but their failure would seem to bode poorly for a Wal-Mart in the same neighborhood. Also, there are two Wal-Marts within a short hop from Duquesne; in fact, the one in North Versailles can damn well be seen from Duquesne. I question whether there's a big enough population to justify another one.

Analysts who study Wal-Mart say the company is determined to make sure that no home in America is more than five minutes from one of its stores. That's an impressive statistic, but even if they achieve it --- a doubtful idea --- it seems like it's seeding the eventual decline of the company. Because eventually, they're going to oversaturate the market, and get saddled with a bunch of lousy locations, especially in rural areas.

On the other hand, there's a reason why the Walton family is the richest family in the United States, and I'm some schmuck with a Web site. It will be interesting, to say the least, to see if Wal-Mart's smiley face comes bouncing into Duquesne soon.

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There's a new movie out, and the cast is a good one: It includes Geoffrey Rush, Charlize Theron, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Stephen Fry. It's received generally positive coverage in the U.K. and was the toast of the Cannes Film Festival. Indeed, the critics are saying that Rush may deserve another Academy Award for his performance.

But he's not likely to get one. Because for now, HBO Films is refusing to allow "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" to be shown in movie theaters, ostensibly because Peter Sellers isn't "famous enough" to attract an American audience. And without being screened in general release, Rush's performance as Sellers isn't eligible for an "Oscar."

In reality, HBO is probably hoping to hold onto the movie for premium cable customers before eventually sending it out on video. 'Tis a pity, because the film does look intriguing, even if some of the reviews have found it flawed. (You can watch the trailer here.)

Incidentally, I find Peter Sellers' career to be a mixed bag, at best, but his life story reads like a Greek tragedy, and it would seem tailor-made for a biopic. (More in the Times of London and the Grauniad.

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I got an email the other day that purported to be from Citibank that asked me to send my Social Security number and credit card information. Obviously, it was a scam, but they tried to duplicate the look of a real Citibank email --- and did a reasonably good job of it, except that I doubt Citibank would include a paragraph at the bottom of its emails that said this: "NFL Shoe them to me please and when it Freeware AOL dog The point is Pokemon Gold Coyote Ugly in 1917 The WWF Same for me I'll get a porter Mac Anna Kournikova Yahoo in 1910 ?? ? ??? Free in 1921 Sure in 1808 Anna Kournikova That's lovely, in 1825."

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What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander: The weekly paper in President Bush's hometown dissed him; now the (considerably larger) daily in Kerry's hometown of Lowell, Mass., has done the same to their local boy. (Although in fairness, the Lowell Sun has never liked Kerry, going back to his first campaign.)

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Quick debate impressions: I didn't like Cheney before, though I think he's competent and intelligent, and Tuesday's televised sparring match didn't change my viewpoint. But "likability" to me isn't the issue --- his ability to do the job of vice president is. I don't have much impression one way or the other of Edwards, though he was likable and seemed competent in the debate.

I think the debate was a draw on substance, but that Edwards' style was better than Cheney's, which may have swayed some voters to his side. (It would be hard to have a style that seemed colder or more indifferent to the public than Cheney's --- maybe Marie Antoinette's?) In the end, Cheney was Cheney --- growling, slumping, sneering --- while Edwards came off as more relaxed, if begging for approval a bit too much.

Andrew Sullivan called it a clear victory for Edwards, saying that Cheney looked like "roadkill"; I didn't think he looked that bad. The polls are fairly evenly split, though undecideds went for Edwards by a large margin, apparently.

In the end, no one votes for a ticket based on who the vice presidential candidate is, and vice presidential debates have not made one whit of difference in the final outcome in years past --- Bentsen creamed Quayle in '88, after all, and everyone remembers how successful President Dukakis' administration was, right?