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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Price-point retailer chain 99 Cents Only announced on Thursday that it was planning to close down all its 371 stores across four states and would start liquidation sales on Friday.
The decision to permanently shut down its locations, the company's interim CEO Mike Simoncic said on Thursday, was "an extremely difficult" one and "not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve."
Founded by Dave Gold in 1982 in Los Angeles, California, the discount company has been operational for more than four decades across California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. But after experiencing difficult years during the pandemic and the recent high inflation environment, the chain said it's now undergoing a "wind-down" of its business operations.
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"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," said Simoncic in a statement on Thursday.
"We deeply appreciate the dedicated employees, customers, partners, and communities who have collectively supported 99 Cents Only Stores for decades."
Newsweek contacted 99 Cents Only for comment by email on Friday morning.
In a statement, the company wrote that "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."
Some of the stores will reportedly close as soon as on Friday, April 5. They will all be shut down within the coming months. 99 Cents Only, which is based in Commerce, California, said it has partnered with Hilco Real Estate to liquidate all its merchandise, together with "certain fixtures, furnishings and equipment at the company's stores."
The company currently counts about 14,000 employees, as reported by The Los Angeles Times.
The fate of 99 Cents Only currently hangs in the balance. Despite the closure of all its stores, the company said it was talking to financial and legal advisers to try to find a way to continue operating.
The chain's stores initially offered all kinds of products—from branded merchandise to fresh food—for 99 cents, but were forced to push up prices in the 2000s to keep up with rising costs and inflation. Though it had previously successfully navigated difficult times, the company's financial troubles became known in October 2023 when Fitch Ratings reported that it was nearing a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
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