Shoppers across large swaths of the country are mourning the bargains they’ll soon never bag again behind the bright-pink-branded storefronts.
99 Cents Only Stores — a discount chain with stores in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada — is winding down its business operations at all 371 locations, the company said Thursday.
After more than four decades in business, the chain has succumbed to financial pressures affecting many retail spaces coming out of the pandemic, including inflation and shrinkage — a term for inventory losses due to factors such as shoplifting, employee error and product damage.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” said interim CEO Mike Simoncic in a company news release.
Dollar-store chains overall are struggling, many of them blaming their downfall on factors like inflation and theft. Last month, Dollar Tree said it planned to shut down about 12% of its Family Dollar locations over the next three years, and 30 of its Dollar Tree stores. Dollar General appears to be the outlier; the chain plans to open hundreds of stores this year, and said it would yank self-checkouts from stores most affected by shoplifting.
Read more at NPR.org
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