BUSINESS NOTES : GRINCH STEALS SHOW IN UNIVERSAL DEAL.

UNIVERSAL CITY - The Whos in Whoville didn't come cheap.

Universal Pictures agreed to a deal worth as much as $9 million with the widow of Theodor Geisel for rights to two classic Dr. Seuss books, ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' and ``Oh, the Places You'll Go.''

The company negotiated the deal with Audrey Geisel on behalf of Imagine Films, which will adapt ``Grinch'' into a full-length movie starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ron Howard. Universal is shooting for a Christmas 2000 release.

Universal already owns theme park rights to Dr. Seuss-created characters, and one of the ``islands'' in Orlando Universal's Islands of Adventure will be devoted to Dr. Seuss.

- Associated Press 

Venator shutters Kinney shoe stores

NEW YORK - Just 14 months after closing its struggling Woolworth dime stores, Venator Group Inc. took another step Wednesday to restructure its ailing business by shutting down its 570 Kinney and Footquarters stores.

The latest move will allow the troubled retailer to shed some unprofitable units that are dragging down sales and profits, and dedicate more energy to its core athletic sportswear and footwear chains.

There are approximately 33 Kinney Shoe stores in the greater Los Angeles area, but no Footquarters stores, according to a Venator Group spokeswoman. She said the company was not announcing yet which stores it will convert or close down. Each Kinney store employes six or seven people, she said.

- Daily News Staff and Wire Services

Baxter ends tests of artificial blood

CHICAGO - Baxter International will take a $75 million third-quarter charge to end testing of its HemAssist blood substitute, but analysts said Wednesday that the setback is only a minor one in the race to market artificial blood.

The pharmaceutical giant's move to end HemAssist was not unexpected. In June, the company suspended European tests of HemAssist in trauma victims after early results found no statistical benefits.

And two months earlier, Baxter suspended testing in U.S. emergency rooms after more patients who used HemAssist died than did those in the control group. The company found that 46.2 percent of the people given HemAssist died, more than the projected 42.6 percent mortality rate and well above the 17.4 percent in the control group.

- Associated Press

Toys ``R'' Us to cut retail stores, jobs

NEWARK, N.J. - Toys ``R'' Us Inc., trying to fend off increased competition in the retail marketplace, will close 59 stores, cut 3,000 jobs and revamp its store format in hopes of improving its sagging sales.

The world's biggest toy seller announced on Wednesday a broad restructuring plan that will attempt to make its stores more customer friendly and expand its offerings of electronics, children's clothing and bargain shopping.

It will switch 200 of the company's 697 U.S. stores to the format next year, and 75 percent of them by October 2000. Of the 59 stores that will close, 50 will be overseas, mostly in Germany and France, said company spokeswoman Rebecca Caruso. Toys ``R'' Us was notifying terminated employees of layoffs Wednesday and today, but did not immediately name the store locations.

- Associated Press