from www.cincinnati.com – A family feud between Larry and Jimmy Flynt soon could bring a second Hustler store to downtown Cincinnati.

A company with ties to Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt secured permits and hired a contractor last month to gut a vacant Chinese restaurant on East Seventh Street in preparation for building a retail store on the site, which is about one block from the Aronoff Center.

Flynt’s younger brother, Jimmy Flynt, said he believes the new store will be part of the Hustler Hollywood chain and will compete for customers with the Hustler store he has operated for a decade on Elm Street downtown.

The brothers had a falling out a few years ago and have been battling in courts in Ohio and California for control of the Hustler pornography empire, which includes the magazine, video production, web sites and retail stores across the country.

“The only reason he’s doing this is to try to hurt me financially and squeeze me out,” Jimmy Flynt said. “He told me he would bury me at every turn.”

City building inspectors last month approved permits for demolition and renovation of the former restaurant at 16-18 East Seventh St. The plans make no mention of a Hustler store, and Larry Flynt did not return phone calls about the project.

But the building permits list the store’s owner as “HH Cincinnati,” a limited liability company that was recently identified in court papers as being owned by Theresa Flynt. She is Larry Flynt’s daughter and an employee with his Los Angeles-based company.

Jimmy Flynt said his brother’s strategy when building a new store is to keep a low profile until he’s ready to open.

“He’s trying to fly under the radar,” he said.

Hustler Hollywood stores, which sell adult videos, lingerie and sex toys, have been set up in other cities for years as limited liability companies similar to the one in Cincinnati. The Hustler Hollywood store in Monroe, north of Cincinnati, operates as HH Monroe.

The phone number for HH Cincinnati is that of a Washington, D.C.-based project management firm, Mark G. Anderson Consultants. Company officials did not return calls, but Jimmy Flynt said he has worked with the firm for years on other Hustler Hollywood projects.

Demolition began at the site about one month ago and a project manager for the contractor said that part of the job could be finished in another week.

Mike Ziegler, a broker with Colliers International, said a retail tenant had signed a 10-year lease for the Seventh Street building. He would not identify the tenant, but he said he expects the store to open by the end of the year.

City building officials said they don’t know the name of the new store and probably would not find out until it was time to issue a certificate of occupancy for the building.

Because the city licenses sexually oriented businesses, a new Hustler store would be subject to additional fees, background checks of employees and some other requirements. But City Solicitor John Curp said such a store would likely face no more hurdles to opening than most other retailers.

“We may not like it,” he said. “But we don’t have to shop there, either.”

The prospect of one – let alone two – Hustler stores downtown once would have seemed far-fetched in a city that essentially banned Hustler magazine for decades. But the store on Elm Street has remained open since 2000 and so far has avoided serious legal problems.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said no law enforcement agency has made allegations of obscenity violations related to the Elm Street store since he returned to the prosecutor’s office in 2005.

“He can do anything he wants,” Deters said of Larry Flynt. “As long as he doesn’t break the law, I could care less.”

Most of the businesses around the Seventh Street site, including the Aronoff Center, either declined comment or said they were unaware of the possibility of a new Hustler store. Jean-Robert de Cavel, who opened a new restaurant nearby, said he’s not concerned.

“The downtown area is for everybody,” he said. “It’s part of being in a big city. That’s the way I look at it.”

Jimmy Flynt said opening another store makes little business sense, but it would not be surprising given the bad blood between the brothers.

The fight began about three years ago when Larry fired Jimmy’s two sons, who then launched their own pornography business using the Flynt name. That set off a trademark infringement battle in California and another fight in Cincinnati for control of Hustler’s assets.

Jimmy Flynt claims he is entitled to at least half the company because he worked as a full partner with his more famous brother for 40 years. Larry Flynt says his brother is entitled to nothing and is trying to evict him from the Elm Street store.

“This is just a pattern of behavior,” Jimmy Flynt said of his brother. “He and his lawyers keep trying to hurt me.”