99 Cents Only stores to close all locations

COMMERCE – The Commerce-based operators of 99 Cents Only stores announced Thursday they will shutter all 371 of its locations, with liquidation sales set to begin Friday.

The move will impact all company locations in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.

Image: 99 Cents Only stores website

“This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” interim company CEO Mike Simoncic said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment, including the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting consumer demand, rising levels of shrink, persistent inflationary pressures and other macroeconomic headwinds, all of which have greatly hindered the company’s ability to operate.

“We deeply appreciate the dedicated employees, customers, partners, and communities who have collectively supported 99 Cents Only Stores for decades.”

According to the company, it has partnered with Hilco Real Estate to facility a liquidation of all merchandise, along with “certain fixtures, furnishings and equipment at the company’s stores.”

The 99 Cents Only stores were founded in 1982. Company officials said they conferred with financial and legal advisers in hopes of finding a way to continue operating.

“Following months of actively pursuing these alternatives, the company ultimately determined that an orderly wind-down was necessary and the best way to maximize the value of 99 Cents Only Stores’ assets,” according to a company statement.

99 Cents Only Stores is a premier deep-discount retailer that primarily carries name-brand consumable and general merchandise.

“We are an exciting shopping destination—often the first stop—for price-sensitive consumers, and a fun treasure-hunt shopping experience for other value conscious consumers,” according to its website.

The stores date back to the 1960s when the company’s founder, Dave Gold, inherited a tiny liquor store in downtown Los Angeles and decided to run a test by selling bottles of wine at a fixed price-point of 99 cents. The test was an instant success. Gold thought selling everything in the store for 99 cents would be hugely popular.

On “lucky” Friday, the 13th of August in 1982, Gold opened the first 99 Cents Only store in Los Angeles. To celebrate the grand opening, Gold decided to sell television sets for only 99 cents to the store’s first 9 customers.

More than 300 people showed up to stand in line and wait for the store to open. The huge line caught the media’s attention, and more than 10 TV outlets covered the store’s first day.

99 Cents Only Stores secured its place in history and as an iconic American institution when the famous German photographer Andreas Gursky captured a world-renowned image of the inside of the 99 Cents Only store in Hollywood in 1999.

The picture was featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and was later auctioned off by Sotheby’s for more than $3 million, setting the all-time sales price record for a photograph. (With CNS report)