Edhat Staff
The 99 Cents Only in downtown Santa Barbara will soon be closing as the company announced its plans to liquidate all of its locations across four states.
Locally there are stores in Atascadero, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, and Camarillo.
The very first 99 Cents Only store opened in 1982 on La Tijera Boulevard in Los Angeles. Founder David Gold commemorated the grand opening by selling television sets for 99 cents to the first 13 customers as its opening day was on Friday the 13th.
The Gold family operated the chain as it grew to 289 stores in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas until agreeing to sell in 2011 when the company was valued at $1.6 billion.
Now, all of its 371 stores are liquidating after the company announced last week that it was going out of business citing an array of factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer demand, inflation, and inventory loss.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” interim Chief Executive Mike Simoncic said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment.”
With approximately 14,000 employees the company said it reached an agreement with Hilco Global to liquidate all of its merchandise and dispose of fixtures, furnishings and equipment at its stores.
Some locations throughout the state have already shuttered while others are in the process of liquidating merchandise using discounts.
The 424 State Street location in downtown Santa Barbara is expected to close on June 3rd, adding another large retail building to the ever growing list of empty structures in the downtown area.
Bring back Manny, Moe, and Jack.
Typical arc of a company’s life under capitalism. Start as a family business, with concern for employees. Grow, since the employees care for the company that cares for them. Original founders/managers promoted from within age out. Business goes public or is sold to a public company. Profit becomes the only motive. Managers/employees no longer mutually care. Company declines and fails, usually looted at the end by corporate management.
The company cites, “inflation and inventory loss” among the reasons for closing. Inventory loss? Why can’t they just say “theft?”
Not much of a loss. Stores sells trash and exploits low income folks with disposable and often defective merchandise that won’t last. The owners get to be millionaires on the backs of the least affluent (both customers and employees) and the runs off into the sunset blaming others for their greedy ways and deflecting their avarice. Good riddance in fact.
@RHS- The Santa Barbara Elitist- “Exploits low income folks” Sounds like a statement only a rich liberal democrat could conjure up… The fact is this store carries a lot of “brand names” that have discontinued items or had seasonal items discounted to sell to these types of outlet stores.
Oh those “owners and millionaires” making a successful business should be ashamed of themselves… I will gladly PAY your one way flight to Cuba or Venezuela so you can see how great the alternative is… FACT is many people used these stores to make ends meet. Inflation in the last two years has had a significant cost to those “least affluent” among us… Have you looked at your grocery bill lately? Up 35% in two years…. Insurance premiums (if you haven’t been cancelled) up in CA 60%…. Those “low income folks” are the working middle class, who are NOT on the Government Dole, but trying to make ends meet.