True Value

Edward E. Lanctot, 84, who co-founded a tiny Chicago cooperative hardware company that grew into the True Value chain, died Oct. 30 at the Resurrection Nursing and Rehab Center in Park Ridge, Ill., of complications from a stroke. Lanctot began his career selling nuts and bolts after high school, working with hardware merchandiser John Cotter in his hometown of Duluth, Minn.

The holiday season is upon us again. I'm cringing at the media blitz that accompanies it, especially since my husband and I want to instill in our 4-year-old daughter values beyond those that flash across the television screen every five to 10 minutes. This leads me to Holiday Principle No. 1: Keep the television off and avoid advertisements. Who isn't enticed by all the pretty things--from decorations to refreshments to every kind of toy imaginable? Here's Principle No. 2: Buy less.

China's leaders are determined to carry out fundamental price reforms but will do so cautiously, two key Chinese policy-makers indicated Monday. To boost agricultural production and increase economic efficiency, China must allow the prices of many items to rise toward their true value, the two officials said at a press conference in connection with the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

You might have noticed the ice rink at Nordstrom in South Coast Plaza. Or the elves at Fashion Island. Or the giant talking bear at Anaheim Plaza. They are all part of the arsenal of gimmicks designed to combat any hint of sluggish holiday shopping. Even before many families had discarded last year's Christmas tree, retailers--determined not to repeat 1987's Scroogy Christmas sales--had begun plotting ways to keep customers and cash flowing during this holiday season.

The Woodlands, the Kansas City, Kan., racetrack that Hollywood Park has agreed to buy for $70 million, including debt, isn't worth anywhere near that much, according to evidence surfacing this week in a Kansas tax dispute. The Woodlands is 60% owned by Hollywood Park Chairman R.D. Hubbard. The dispute, concerning a 1990-91 tax valuation in Wyandotte County, Kan., is being heard in Topeka by the state Board of Tax Appeals. The county is trying to defend its valuation of $59.

Whether they're naughty or nice, most children growing up on the affluent side of Orange County can expect a bountiful Christmas. And they know it. The letters sent to the North Pole from some children are so long they require extra postage--and the lists just get longer when the writers learn where the goods really come from. It takes a special effort from parents to make sure Christmas doesn't become a conspicuous consumption marathon, say local family counselors.

After three real estate agents, two price reductions and nearly a year with no offers on their town house in Las Vegas, George and Katherine Grodin turned to a higher power for help. They bought a 4-inch plastic figurine of St. Joseph -- the patron saint of home and employment -- and placed it upside down in their patio with hopes of breaking their home-selling slump. "I just felt so helpless," said Katherine Grodin, 47. "I needed to do something."

True Value Co. Chief Executive Lyle Heidemann spends a lot of his time shopping these days -- and that's a good thing for a chain that had lost its way in retail. Roaming the aisles of big-box competitors and other retailers that have put hundreds of its member stores out of business, Heidemann and True Value are actively on the prowl for more customers after a restructuring that has cleaned up its financial problems and given it new momentum.

A slice of American tradition has disappeared--at least temporarily. Pie Town no longer has a pie shop. Not that Emily Lerma planned it that way. She had been making Pie Town's pies--berry pies, pumpkin pies, pecan pies, apple pies--for a dozen years when she broke both legs in a traffic accident in August, 1989. She reopened the following year, but pain from her injuries forced her to close in December, 1990. Now she lives in the little white building on U. S.

The polls were barely closed Nov. 8 before Republicans all over the country uncorked the champagne, and the celebrating hasn't stopped since. Having won with the male vote in 1994, Republican strategists--who are, not coincidentally, all themselves men--will undoubtedly continue to rely on this group as the key to 1996. A key component of their strategy involves catering to the religious-right groups claiming credit for this year's Republican victories.