Upon today's reopening of the stock market, the news spread quickly about the newest aggressive move by Venator competitor GlobalSports in acquiring yet another branch for their smothering sporting goods tree, positioning them to strike the final blow upon our old friend, Venator. In a desperate last measure designed to influence the neophyte investor, Venator will likely proceed with their plan to change their corporate name to Footlocker Inc. But the wise investor knows a corporate name has little or no impact on retail. We are undoubtedly seeing the final blow to our old Woolworth friends.

Furthermore, their direct marketing arm, FootLocker.com/Eastbay -- Venator's most realistic opportunity for continued significant domestic market share growth -- recently lost their last remaining executive with original ties to its improbable early-90's run to IPO and Woolworth buy-out, leaving them guided by an inbred executive team (reportedly downsized out of Graebel, the moving van company). Former VP of Creative Services, Fritz Menzel, who formulated and guided Eastbay's integrated merchandising/publicity process since 1990, quietly dumped his remaining Venator stock on August 24 before exiting the company. The stock has steadily trended noticeably downward since.

And now, GlobalSport's newest blow. Is there any doubt "Z" now enters eternal sleep?