99 Cents Only Stores: Another Leveraged Buyout Casualty? | Retail Archaeology
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- In this episode we take a look at 99 Cents Only Stores, another retailer that was purchased via a leveraged buyout and is now struggling with their debt load. We tour a store and then take a closer look at some of the products they sell.
This episode's music is from the album "Electric Elevator" from Dan Mason. For more info visit danmason.bandc... for more information.
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It’s nice to see a store like this that sells fruits and vegetables and not just potato chips and candy.
It sucks that those who are poor and or n the outskirts who rely on these dollar stores for their grocery needs have to sacrifice anything remotely nutritious. It may not be the best quality produce but at least it's real food
I will take 5 bunches of 99 cent asparagus, Alex
Do not tell me you didn't go back to 1992 and film inside a grocery store. No way this exists in 2018, looks fabulous!
Oh, they exist alright. I know this because they are abundant in Dallas, Texas. However, since I moved from there to Fort Smith, Arkansas, I now live in a place without the 99CentsOnly Store. It's very frustrating, because that's where I could get the best prices for a lot of my vegetables (especially potatoes and cabbage).
I hope they get their debt in order, and are able to expand out here where I now live. My grocery shopping was at its cheapest when I would shop at my trifecta of inexpensive places: Aldi, Dollar Tree, and 99CentsOnly Store. I knew just what to buy there that would end up getting me the best bargains, and the most money staying in my wallet.
Artie Fivecents I live in Fort Smith, AR as well. Especially with our high taxes, the dollar would stretch farther out here.
Not only that but this outline is the most recent update of the stores...she UPDATE! They just painted and re-decorated the walls and bread, and salad area.
CeCe, it would! I just got spoiled with the cheaper potatoes and cabbage. Now all I can find is cabbage at $0.69lb, which is crazy.
Brunswick skippered snacks are freaking delicious. Don't knock it till you try it!
It's frustrating sometimes to realize you can buy an office stapler, made oversea with so many components and materials and shipped to your store for 99c. But you buy an orange, grown 300km from home and it will cost you twice the stapler.
No import taxes on SOME items from China. Some popular categories of merch are very heavily tariffed /taxed by US customs. Mostly holiday décor items of certain description. This is why sometimes imported goods have strange descriptions on the box. It`s not just the product of a non English speaking country, but dodging tariffs based on buzzwords. EG. on Christmas décor a few years ago, the word "snowman" was heavily tariffed because they were crazy popular motifs that season. The importers used some creatively bad descriptors on the boxes that year! Also, any product we make on a massive scale here (with a lobby for it) is taxed to death. Synthetic fabrics like Polyester are taxed so much that they are often less costly to create here. It is actually less expensive to create imported fabric goods from Silk, than Polyester! Then again, creatively worded stuff happens......
Yeah, but the stapler will taste like crap. 🍊🍊🍊
And I can never get that stupid orange to hold my papers together properly.
prismstudios001 Seriously? Well then you need to git gud at #stapling with your #orange
I watched a Docu. once about a fellow that owed a Chrome Plating business whose niche was making specialty chrome baskets for the auto manufacturing business on quick order. He was saying if it wasn't for this he would have to close, companies overseas could buy the material and make whatever was to be plated, plate the stuff, package it and then ship thousands of miles cheaper that he could just chrome plate something of the same order, mostly due to the EPA restrictions and fees associated.
Maybe a bit dated, but I actually kind of like the look of those stores.
gayboyzig The main reason newer stores tend to be draining and/or depressing for many people is because of the endless white oblivion many stores have.
Having retro style stores like that could actually improve worker morale and boost productivity.
Yeah strangely enough I like that dated look, fits the whole theme. I only go there to buy candy and juice at bargain prices.
What stands out to me is not just the full stock but the zoning.
@@PugetwitchIt's flawless!
I swear 99 cent stores better not die I'm there like weekly
Me too
I will die!
We don't have these stores on the east coast, but I wish we did! The closest we have are .99 cent stores on the boardwalks at the beaches. XD And they sell cheap, touristy stuff. The closest thing we have to this here, is Dollar Tree. But I wish we had this store; I'd love to go there!
wish granted !!!!!!!
@gayboyzig best to hit the 99 cent stores on truck days
Leveraged buyouts are pure evil. They take so much away. Bon-Ton, Toys'R'Us, NECCO, and so many others are casualties now. People usually love to complain about Walmart and Amazon, but never about the CEOs and their shitty decisions.
Levis jeans…
Vulture capitalism at its finest.
It's a calculated decision managing the debt risk and business growth. Still you can point to Amazon affecting the retail market growth as the whole. What makes t toxic is that private equity uses this to make quick money when they use LBO to buy a firm and sell it off after 3-5 years. Grocery used to be seen as low risk before Amazon thus become target for his practice.
HerpyDerpyDoo11 ha ha too late mercan .
the .com nasdaq was over while ago. can i take your order (foreign voice) loool
Why would anyone allow leveraged buyouts to keep happening. It should be illegal at this point.
This is my favorite dollar store chain. The pet section usually has decent stuff. I have a few of the $3 pet beds laying around that my dog loves. They have some awesome cookies too.
The music, the store's vibe, and your clear narration really gives me nostalgia
A lot of the 99 cent stores here in San Diego are always crowded. Several people in the comments section noticed how slow the lines are and that's true! You have to go early in the morning to avoid that. I still shop there since places like Vons, Albertson, and Ralphs are so, so expensive. I take advantage of the produce and bread at the 99s. They also sell tortillas. I also shop at the Dollar stores but they have less food items. I love the tacky and weird stuff, too. And I have to confess I buy them especially during holidays. I hope the 99s and the Dollar stores never go away. Or poor people like me have to pay high prices for food. And here in San Diego everything here is so damn expensive.
Be sure to read the labels, though - cheap breads and pastries are often loaded with unhealthy trans fats.
I’m sad they are closing. My parents shopped there when I was a kid and have fond memories of browsing the school supplies section because I was a nerd that liked going to school and browsing the snacks section. We kinda stopped going after they started raising prices.
I soo confused why are your 99 Cents Store not crowded. My local 99cents store is soo crowed that sometimes it’s hard to find a parking spot. Also, the fonts on the wall are new! The 99 Cents stores have been renovating/redecorating almost all there stores.
Same here, my local 99cents stores are always busy
Here in houston the westheimer location is always packed.
Can you please do another video on the 99 cents store? They’re closing & I have a lot of fond memories there. I’d love to see it.
the 99 cent store in Torrance is always quite busy (and the lines move sloooooooooow) it also has a non working payphone.
Eric Eberle I've seen that one
You have to remember some payphones are setup that you won't get a dial tone till you put money in them to keep people from using "Chingers" which emulate dial tone sounds that indicate to the Pay phone you put money in. Me, and my sister in the 90's bought them from a shady tourist trap in Myrtle Beach SC when I lived there for a summer, before we had cell phones, and no house phones to make free phone calls lol.
Eric Eberle waving as a South Bay native and shopped there many times.
Eric Eberle same goes for San Francisco bay area
Commodorefan64 What?!
Don't mean to get sappy, but you brought back some memories for me that I forgot about. As a little girl my Dad would always share his "Kipper Snacks" with me. Pulled at my heart strings since I lost him last year. Give that sweet little girl extra hugs everyday. Nothing like a Daddy hug, they're the best
I’d love to see an updated 2023 video of them, they’re working on rebranding themselves as “The 99 Store” and have a bunch of different prices now, with most things starting at $1.29 since Dollar Tree raised their prices.
Shout out to the employees working 9 days a week
Dude I've never understood that since I was a kid I just got frustrated all over again lol !
They work those hours because of the poor choices they made in life.
@@stevewayda5893 What do you consider double the salary is?
It is a shit place to work..one year my raise (and you only get one a year) was 8 cents an hour...I was pissed and finding out that my raise..was on the large side compared to many of my coworkers oddly didn't help much
99 Days a Week.
I've been a regular customer at the 99 cent store for most of my life. The location I go to in Gardena, CA is always very busy. The products can be a bit weird, but sometimes you'll find some really surprising deals on snacks. The produce is generally of decent quality as well. Very inconsistent stocking though, sometimes you'll find a good deal on something, and then not see it again for 6 months.
One of the biggest things hurting them is the proliferation of other bargain grocers like Grocery Outlet and Aldi, who are taking all the weirdly good deals that 99 cent stores used to have and selling them somewhere between 99 cents and regular retail.
I've worked for PetSmart for 6 years, and our 2015 leveraged buyout of Chewy.com, following our 2014 private sale, has left the company in dire straights. They have slashed our hours, implemented countless new metrics and analytics to encourage us to do more with much less, implementing programs to fast track customer assistance to get back to tasking, and are bleeding money at a store level due to having to price match Chewy. We're talking $4 profit margin items being sold for $12 less.
Since the company is headquartered in Arizona, perhaps you can look into it for a future video.
Check out this article from 3 days ago:
www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-25/yielding-21-in-bond-market-the-no-1-retail-lbo-is-in-trouble
When these stores started in Texas, they were 99 cent only stores with every item truly being 99 cents. Then they said they had to raise prices and made them 99.9 cents. Then they added groceries that were not 99 cents and finally added odds and ends that cost more. They'd get some cool little toys at good prices, most recently getting some of the Lego dimensions items on closeout. They tend to build in lower income areas here in San Antonio.
brainlikesieve the old Gerland’s grocery store in Katy (west Houston suburb) was eventually turned into a 99¢ only store. I used to frequent it all the time. Haven’t been in years though. Mostly because I live in North Carolina now lol
Shasta! Yay! The grocery part reminds me of the locally own groceries in the area that have a lot of those secondary brands as well as many ethnic foods and brands. Looks like this store has a lot of other cool stuff - too bad it is destined for closure... :(
Re-watching this episode in 2024 after hearing the new about all these stores closing. RIP, 99 Cents only store. 😢
I live less than five minutes from my nearest 99Cents Store and I love to dig up the unique licensed treasures from there, as well some interesting pop picks like a “attempt” of a window bag!
First video I thought of when I heard the news. RIP 99 Cent Store.
The only chain 99 cent store we had in NYC was McCrory's which we shopped regularly at- all other 99 cent stores that are still around are mom and pop places. But it too fell victim to leverage buyouts. McCrory's was owned by Meshulam Riklis, a vulture capitalist and ex-husband of Pia Zadora, bought up a number of chains that included Lerner's who had a rep of driving successful brand names into the ground while cashing out. In '86 McCrory now owned by Samsonite swotted up the remaining Kresge and Jupiter stores from Kmart- 76 of them- because Riklis screwed them from their investments with him attempting to recoup losses. McCrory's had 1,300 stores operating, but in the early 90s it declared bankruptcy and a bunch closed. It was still around when I was in HS but the quality was in the shitter and the store itself looked like crap. By the beginning of the 2000s it was gone and not too long after CVS took up the space. These leveraged buyouts are being done deliberately and Amazon (for all of its fucked up practices) is taking too much of the rap. It's obvious that these kinds of buyouts are the ultimate Wall Street get rich quick scams since business (especially American) plans quarterly and doesn't look to the distant future because trends are born and die in minutes and everybody is trying to outsmart the market.
Katrina Paige MacCray Leverage buy outs should be illegal
Leveraged buyouts have become destructive tools. While I have no problem with expansions of business, after all there were brands that wouldn't have become legendary thus profitable without buyouts. Same goes for salvaging something on the verge of bankruptcy and making it successful again. But this is obviously for short term gain and making corporations (especially those with political clout- lobbyists) even more powerful.
@@michealscott2971 yes but will never happen as long as this capitalistic system is run not by the government but by the corporations and banking system
Leveraged buyouts seem like a bad decision that benefits only a VERY few people. Can't blame the successful companies for the fact everyone else shoots themselves for a short-term profit.
When I would work at McD's I would shop at the dollar tree a lot to save money.
RIP 99 Cents Store
1982 - 2024
😢
I'd hate to see these die, they have such a better selection than dollar tree. When I first moved out on my own this place was a haven for health cheap grocery options as well as unhealthy lol. Plus loved the vintage look in them.
This store brings back so many memories! My mom absolutely adored this place! She would always take me here (we had one down the street) after school and she would let me pick out a bunch of snacks! It breaks my heart that this store is going under. It has such a special place in my childhood! Great vid as always 👏👏💖
If 99¢ stores die, I️m going with them.
please dont die, its just not worth it, try the prem and the kipper snacks, MMMMMMMMMM
I don't do the prem but the kipper snacks are good..It's smoked fish..nice snack
I would literally have no choice because that’s all i could afford to keep myself alive lol
Oof
Heck, yeah for Shasta!
I haven't seen that stuff in forever, either. I really loved their Strawberry Kiwi.
I wonder if these stores weren't originally grocery stores. I mean, it could be possible as an old grocery store that used be around here was converted into a Big Lots, but the inside is still easily identifiable as a grocery store from the late 80s/early 90s.
I still remember Shasta from when I was 5 years old, 1970!
I remember Shasta soda too...it was sold in one of our regional supermarkets (probably Star Market when it existed) if I recall or probably in a bigger store before they created their own brand.
I remember seeing Shasta soda in a lot of discount grocers and mom-and-pop stores' but another soda brand I see in these discount stores is Faygo.
Shasta has fake sugar in it now. Not how you remember it. Tastes terrible now.
Cool vid man! I see your cute lil assistant helping with the QA of those toys!
They need to open in the South, trust me, They would do extremely well in North and South Carolina.
I agreed we need it here in South Carolina because dollar general is small and family dollar is too high and dollar tree depends on where u go to doesn't have enough variety. Also none of these store have produce sections.
Yes!! I live in west Virginia and it would do awesome here
Omg I miss going to the 99 cent only store when I lived in California they where very busy. Went there to do my basic grocery shopping and to buy my holiday items and the toys for kids . Miss that store the state I live in now doesn't have them.
Dana Majors I know, right! I wish Utah had them!
lightdark00 says -All the people crowding in to the Cal. store are stupid.
I was born in 1982, and this makes me feel nostalgic for Red Food, where my mom used to grocery shop. Before it was bought out by BiLo and then Food City.
Did u hear the 99cent stores are closing. All 347 locations
That aisle of canned stuff... “Prem” hahaha
Never heard of that. I've heard of "Primm"
Prem is similar to Spam; it’s widely available here in the metro Vancouver area of Canada
Yo Polar and Season canned fish are known for their quality. You'd pay a good bit more at normal grocery stores for them. Never had Prem but Spam gets a bad rap, it's really not that bad.
please dont knock prem, ive ate it all thru my college years, it got me thru, now im a Janitor at 99 cents and up only, and i have an online college degree as a dentist, how do you like me now mom !!!!!!!!!
In my opinion, you were at underperforming 99 Cent Stores. The two I frequent (12 st and Indian School and 12th and Northern) are packed all the time. Granted the Indian School location is in one of the food deserts you mentioned. Every time I go to .$.99 Store, it's possible to find a true bargains--i.e. full sized name brand grocery items for a buck. And I can hear my mother in my head asking 'Did you check the expiration date?' Once you go to Dollar Tree--you've been to a Dollar Tree.
Didn't Nordstroms have something to do with their start up?
The 99 cents store near my house is always Busy as heck, & I often go there to get some things.
I loved this video... because of your video when to the 99 cent store today and I stocked up.
I saw what you were talking about a food desert. I actually saw families who did have a car bought there groceries their.
these videos are great time peaces keep the history allive about these stores
They dont have those here in Michigan, but when I went to LA I loved those stores they even sell clothes. I wish we had them here in Michigan..but dollar tree is pretty nice.
I remember going to the 99c store when I was 13 with my family. The store had just opened and we were pumped. I remember it was super packed. I always had a soft spot for the store ever since. I've only been back a small number of times though.
I wonder if stores like 99 cents only buy up leftover items from other stores like target and Walmart after their initial sale period and are left on the shelf after not selling on the clearance racks. I suspect this is where they get their older toys and other things and then they knock the price way down and it sells well at a store that appeals to bargain and low income shoppers.
My last name is Herring and I was personally offended when you commented that the herring filets were gross! Haha!
The footage of the second store you visited has a Napoleon Dynamite feel to it. And it's funny that you mentioned Captain Crunch because that's exactly what I was eating at the time when you mentioned it.
Another casualty of leverage buyouts. RIP 99 cents Only Stores.
Ah yes, the rare payphone in the wild. Rare around the world no less.
Haven't seen a payphone in about 10 years over here in the Netherlands.
I saw plenty of them in Honolulu’s airport for some reason. There are also quite a few over the border in parts of Canada, especially Ontario.
The local bus depot where I live has a working one.
Well payphones are useful when both your cell and battery pack used to keep it charged dies and you also have loads of coins to use to make a call. I know because I've had to use them in that situation to call my parents if I got stranded somewhere near one. (especially if it's raining and the road near the area has drainage issues so there's ponds where cars can speed through and splash you with that filthy water wake)
My high school and main community college campus had some.
They're good when you need to make a harassing phone call
I remember when the 2nd store you went to first opened as an Albertsons in like 1993, it was abandoned for like 12 years, they split the store in 2 and put in the 99 and a fresh and easy which is now a Smart and Final.
I see you bought the Capt. Crunch blueberry pancake cereal...that has to be one of the best Capt. Crunch flavors ever!!!
yummy corn syrup and assorted toxins!! and bonus - no nutritional value.
eat up!! the ER awaits you
My dad's a long haul truck driver and he would frequently shop at 99 cent stores for food. Good place for canned foods and other long shelf life items.
Shasta brings back memories for me. I was 5 in 1974 and we went out to see fireworks at the fountain in Fountain Hills, AZ. It was new then and was the world's tallest artificial fountain (don't know if it still is). We kids got to drink lots of Shasta from a cooler that the parents brought along.
I live as close to the border as you can get in California and the 99c store closest to me is always packed. The one you went to was extremely large and spacious compared to my local store. My store has tall shelves but extremely narrow aisles, meaning you can't squeeze by people during the rush. Even the parking lot is awfully packed. I have fond memories of going to 99c to buy school supplies whenever I needed them during high school. The problem with this specific store is that there's a sort of hostile homeless clan living in the gas stations around the area and they can really bother the customers or anyone just walking by.
Janelle Ramirez San Diego has a massive homeless problem and the liberal politicians pretend to care but do nothing about it..
I can't get over how well stocked the store is,and neat.
Hehehe such a cute last shot of the kiddo in shades!
Here in LA the 99 is the where I go when I'm on a budget. Never disappoints.
"Pretty banged up" he says about the payphone, to me that is like pristine. The one payphone I've seen in the past however many years during my time going to college in Philly had the phone ripped off the cord and etc. Looks like it got smashed and never repaired, or removed for that matter.
Also wow, inside the store looks like a time capsule that someone just kept maintained all these years. It's a rather nice and well kept store, and wooo Shasta! The economy brand soda we all love.
The doorman to the limo plays the Lawyer CEO on Better Call Saul
It’s nice that it’s open 9 days a week...
Leverage buyout sounds like buying a business with a credit card.
thats exactly how it is, but you put all the debt on the business not the LBO
Nice big and clean stores with a huge selection. Wish we had them here in the south.
I remember these! They were a lifesaver when I was in college.
Looks like the first store is the one on bell rd and cave creek location in north Phoenix i remember the kids rides I lived down the street from there in 2003 to 2018 I love going to the 99 cent store you find the some good stuff sometimes. I hope it never go dead because it helps so many people get by.
David Gold first came up with the idea as a means to liquidate slow selling wines at his liquor store. "Whenever I'd put wine or cheese on sale for $1.02 or 98 cents, it never sold out," Gold said in 2001 interview with The Los Angeles Times. "When I put a 99 cent sign on anything, it was gone in no time. I realized it was a magic number."[3]
After prompting from a friend, he then created a full store of these bargains. To get publicity, he sold televisions for only 99 cents on the first day, then had family members calling TV stations to ask about the commotion caused by the lines. The practice continues today as a brand new 99 Cents Only Store will sell a high priced item for 99 cents to the first nine customers in line on opening day, and other limited prices for the next 90 new opening day customers. Despite its image, the company operates a basic information technology operation with a computer system ordering stockers in the distribution center and point of sale registers tracking purchases at every store.[4] The Texas distribution center is a former Albertsons facility bought when that company exited the Houston market.
Love the shot at 7:15...dreamy consumerist wasteland
Just like Sears, they know it’s going to fail, they are just pulling out whatever cash they can.
GreenAppelPie Funny thing this stores have been going strong since I was a kid lol go figure :v
Negative Zero The only reason to might die is due to the leveraged buyout, like Toys R Us.
I love kipper snacks 😨
They're smoked herring. For some strange reason, alot of the diffrent brands are made in Germany. Guessing it's more popular over there but I've managed to find a couple new england brands 😅
Kippers are so good. I grew up in an ethic German family and we eat them quite regularly.
I wish I could get kippers in a pouch like that. Perfect for kayak and backpack camping.
My wife is American born Filipino and she grew up eating kipper snacks with rice... I've only tried them recently and I like them! They are part of our traditional pre Thanksgiving horderves tray now..
i love kipper flavored pancakes . YYUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM !!!!!
Those small ( < 10oz.) Cap'n Crunch boxes at 10:41 have been a staple at U$1 sections of stores for years. In Puerto Rico (even with the added shipping costs) are available in the U$1 products section at Walgreens pharmacies islandwide, along with shampoos, cleaning products and other grocery stuff, like Bull's Eye Everyday BBQ sauce (made w/HFCS, not used in their other more expensive sauces, to sell at U$1 for the regular 18oz. bottle).
The 99 cent grocery in Tucson Arizona is banging! I shop there at least once a week.
I learn a lot from watching your videos. Thank you so much! How long does it take for you to research any particular chain of stores? Your presentation is very detailed. God bless!
I just don't understand why you'd allow a leveraged buyout to happen if you truly love the business you've created.
Probably desperate for money they thought would save their company, but couldn't afford to wait for a buyer who could actually afford to buy them out.
Usually it happens some time after the founder's at least retired if not dead.
(worked there during the buy out) Founder got old and it had grown too big for the families corp to run..it was a mess..but it wasn't sunk deep in dept.
Re Captain Crunch--large retailers sometimes get brand name manufacturers to custom make various sizes and even customized name brand items specifically for their stores. Walmart is famous for getting name-brands to make special Walmart only items under the manufacturer name (and those products are usually lacking the manufacturers usual quality to meet Walmarts price point).
Fred's was a regional variety chain similar to the 99 Cents Only Store, but based in the Southeast. It unfortunately went defunct in October 2019, but not due to a leveraged buyout. Fred's also had a pharmacy in most of its stores, and part of Fred's decline was attributed to the aborted merger between Walgreens and Rite Aid, of which Fred's would have practically doubled its then-store count.
This is a really cool place! I hope it stays open. ☹️
I can vouch that the gardening stuff does work. Just Arizona summer weather...oy.
Interesting stuff about the 99 cent store food. I did some research about food from the 99 cent. I know for one thing, the milk from the 99 cent stores in the Phoenix area comes from the same dairy producer as big grocery chains. In our case, Shamrock Farms. I managed to run into one of the quality control heads at the 99 cent store in Scottsdale. She told me "same cow, same process, different label and packaging, that's all." Produce and soda for Phoenix 99 cent store comes from the same source as Albertson's and Safeway.
the 99 cents store is closing all of it's stores according to the news today.
I enjoy shopping at the 99 Cents Only Store. I read something a while back that they were in debt, didn’t realize that the situation was so dire.
You can get some really good deals there. I will be very disappointed if they end up closing.
Never heard of this store before but good video as always.
The small boxes were sold at Kroger's in our area for a $1.79 a box and I used to get these with Double Coupons up to 65 cents. We used to get 60 cent coupons for any size cereals doubled to $1.20 final price .59 a box. I would take 25 or 30 coupons and they would double every one and would get 30 boxes of cereal for less than 14.00.
I guess that's why the Watauga, TX store recently closed down. I've driven past it countless times but have never gone inside. I can think of one other location that hasn't been closed down in years past that I might have to stop in the next time I'm in that area (if it's still open, that is).
I notice they've only got ceiling fans over the produce section - I wonder if that's due to fruits and vegetables natural off-gassing as they ripen. Blowing the gas away would help them ripen a little more slowly.
Haha,had to do a double take on the bread light ,also thought it looked cool.you should do the Safeway on 25th and university,Mesa, az.i think that's preatty close to you.was running great,always had a crowd.then just closed one day out of the blue last month.
I was obsessed with Hot Wheels as a kid.
I wish that we had this store in Louisiana. We have a lot of Dollar Trees, with grocery and refrigerated sections. But, the sizes and vast selection doesn't usually compare to this. I would visit the 99¢ Only store, nearly, everyday.
I came here after watching your Dollar General tour. This is the only store of this type I've ever been in and not for a long time at that. I remember it being bright, clean, fairly well stocked and containing things you might actually want or use, unlike some stores of this ilk, just like it shows in this video. I have a lot of choices and only myself to shop for, and generally the less stops I make the happier I am, hence the rare visits. It's a store that certainly has its place and I'm sure is helpful in those deserts and less retailed areas. I hope this chain can push through since I think they do what they do better than some of their competitors and they have a lot of things people actually need at a reasonable price point.
I was not aware of the buyout until this video. To me mergers and buyouts have really ruined retail of all kinds. It's been nothing but a race to the bottom with very few exceptions for the last 20 years or so. Amazon and online have only exacerbated the decline. When I was young, shopping was fun and an experience. Now, not so much even in a lot of higher caliber stores. My mantra has been that there's just nobody giving me any reason to get in my car, drive, park, and visit their brick and mortar. If it's all just going to be very utilitarian, why not just order online? I can do it with a few clicks and don't have to worry if the store I select doesn't carry or is out of stock on what I need. This 99 store is at least full of stuff that is useful or that you might need on the spot and you can go get it.
It'll be a tragic day in California when 99c stores go. A lot of lower income people, including myself, get their food and home supplies from there. Living in Southern Orange County, with my exorbitant rent, I can rarely afford to go to say Ralphs or Albertsons, so I opt for the 99c store. It's been keeping me alive just fine, and I never have had an issue with the quality of product from there. The 99c store in San Clemente, Orange County, is always VERY busy.
Those canned meats and fish are popular at these stores because lower income shoppers may not have refrigerators in their accommodations or may be living out of their cars or on the street and they can be kept a few days even after being opened without refrigeration They also make a cheap meal either spread on bread or often mixed with rice (the fish).
Idk what store you went to but the one in my town in southern California is always packed. And that is surprising given the fact that theres a Dollar Tree two blocks over and another one a mile down the road.
The canned sardines and Pram, etc is abundant because it offers low income families a cheaper source of protein since meat prices are so high these days. I was told this by a discount store manager who mentioned they sell a lot of canned meats/vienna sausage type items along with crackers and mustard.
noticed around the 2012 buyout that the store by me started to really change -not for the better . a lot of items priced abpve the "only 99 cents" appeared and other things .yet overall 99 cents only stores are absolutely the best of this type [dollar sores] ever . sorry to see them close if thats what this means
I'm not surprised the Hot Wheels Fiat 500X didn't sell, the real one didn't. Those not-necessarily-"desirable" real cars were my favorites as a kid, I still have the Dodge Omni 024 and Chevy Citation X-11 somewhere.
When they 1st open they use to be just 99 cents only items everything in the store was only 99 cents but changed that a few years ago and added produce they didn't have fresh produce when they 1st opened
Where I shop for produce at great low prices....Hi quality and name brands when you shop around. A bag of name brand spinach, lettuce, mushrooms, cucumbers
One of our 99 cents Only stores is in an old grocery store so it looks like what you saw. When everything was 99 cents or 3 for 99 cents, the store used to be packed. But when things went over 99 cents and Dollar Tree opened everywhere around me, the 99 cent store started to fade. The small Capt Crunch boxes are packaged for dollar type stores, which is smart since it gets a name brand cereal into the stores which you normally don't see.
Been a 99c shopper for 20+ years. I guess this video helped explain why they went away from being truly a 99c only store.....the. buyout. That's when they started selling higher priced items.
I like going to different 99c stores, they all carry slightly different items. I try to go often because they will sometimes have deep discounted expensive items that are there till supplies last.
I knew a member of the Gold family when plans were underway to take 99 Cents Only Stores "public." Their business model - like Dollar Tree, etc. - is to sell at least $10 worth of stuff to EVERYONE who comes through the door. It's quantity over quality, for sure, but still amazing how people "can't" live without that cheap plastic cutting board, or gumball dispenser, for that matter.
I live in NV, and I make it a point to roll around to my local 99¢ store every few months, to pick up a huge stack of Pure 'n Gentle baby wipes. 99¢ each, they always have an entire end-display stacked with them, and they're by far the best butt-wipes I've ever used. The name-brand offerings don't even come close. I don't know what I'll do if 99¢ stores go under, as you can buy them elsewhere, but they're $4.99/pack at every other store.
I KNEW I knew that song, Dan Mason is so good man!
It looks like a fun place to shop; I like the colorful decor. In terms of selection it reminds me of a Dollar Tree or Aldi's.
I finally moved to a town with one of these right down the street! They are truly my favorite dollar store. I have a dollar tree across the street but I’d much rather walk down to the 99¢ store
Blame the easy money policies of the Fed over the last decade for all of the LBOs ultimately crushing these companies.