Larry Flynt Plans Sex Superstore

Friday, May 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MONROE, Ohio (AP) â€” Hustler publisher Larry Flynt celebrated a victory over pornography opponents by taking part in the groundbreaking for a $1 million boutique that will sell sexually oriented merchandise.

``This is going to be our first superstore outside the state of California,'' Flynt said Thursday. Others are planned throughout the country, he said.

Construction of the 7,200-square-foot building should begin next week, with a planned opening in early July. Flynt said the store will carry X-rated videos, sex toys and other adult merchandise, but those sales will not represent a substantial portion of the store's business.

That will allow the store to comply with the town's zoning requirements.

When Flynt bought the site, some residents and religious groups began efforts to keep the store out of the city. But city officials said there was no legal basis to deny the zoning and construction permits Flynt needed.

Monroe is a community of 7,000 about 25 miles north of Cincinnati. Flynt and his brother, Jimmy, also have a store in downtown Cincinnati, where Larry Flynt has fought public officials over obscenity laws since the 1970s.