All of the more than 300 99 Cents Only stores across the country are closing down.
This doesn’t just affect the shoppers who depend on low prices but it will be a loss of jobs for the workers in the stores.
Right now everything is 30% off and business is brisk in the California-based chain. Shoppers are stocking up and many are waiting in line to get inside a store.
Economists say this is a scary sight.
“Sad. I can’t buy my apples and bananas anymore,” said one man walking into the store.
“I think people are going to miss it,” said another, walking out with as much as he could carry.
Whether it was walking in with their own carts, or leaving with their hands full, shoppers in South Sacramento are bummed about losing this 99 Cents Only store on Florin Road.
“Little bit of this and a little bit of that,” the man said.
Residents of South Sacramento said the store was a good one and it was needed in the area.
Dr. Sanjay Varshney is a finance professor at Sacramento State. He said the closing of bargain stores is a growing trend and it is scary.
“Given that the cost of living in California already is very high,” said Varshney. “If these stores shut down in the very neighborhoods where they were very popular at one time, it is going to have a major impact on those neighborhoods.”
What’s to blame for the closures? Dr. Varshney said it is a lack of regulations.
“Try and raise the prices on goods and services because you are raising the salaries and the cost of production, they are simply going to pass it onto the consumer,” he said. “A store like 99 Cents Only cannot survive on those low margins.”
Employees said that they are not getting severance pay. They received a 60-day notice of the upcoming layoffs.
The news release said that it would be an “orderly wind-down of its business operations” and all merchandise would be liquidated.
There are 371 stores across the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas. In the Houston area, for example, there are eighteen stores within city limits. There are seven other stores located outside city limits.
The chain’s interim CEO released a statement. He cited several factors for the decision.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” Mike Simoncic, interim CEO, 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.”
99 Cents Only stores began operating in 1982.
It’s tough in Biden’s America for chains that offer cheap prices to consumers to keep the doors open. Another chain announced a massive closing of its stores. Family Dollar announced it will close 600 stores this year.
The chain’s parent, Chesapeake, Va.-based Dollar Tree Inc., said last month it will close about 600 Family Dollar stores through June. The company also will close an additional 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores when their current leases end in the next several years, the company said in a March announcement.
The retail discount company had 8,359 Family Dollar stores and 8,415 Dollar Tree stores in the U.S. and Canada as of Feb. 3. It employed more than 211,800 store, distribution center and store support associates, including more than 77,000 Family Dollar employees, company filings show.
That is thousands of jobs that will be lost. It’s tough enough for families living paycheck to paycheck in Biden’s economy, with up to 60% of Americans reporting that is how they are living now. Grocery prices continue to rise, regardless of the lies Biden tells. The economic indicators may be slowly turning around but consumers are not feeling any relief.
Dollar Tree released a statement.
“Family Dollar and Dollar Tree stores are important to thousands of communities across this country,” Kate Kirkpatrick, vice president of communications, said in a March 13 statement. “We owe it to those we serve to position all of (our) stores for success and meet the expectations of our valued customers and associates.”
We need a businessman back in the White House who can get the economy booming again for everyone and foster a favorable atmosphere for businesses across the country.