The 99-cent-only closing sale runs through April 19

Good morning. It's Thursday, April 11th. Here's what you need to know to start your day.

Up and down is only 99 cents

Californians love the deal. Over 40 years ago, we found one for just 99 cents. But the popular store announced last week that it would close all of its locations.

Only 99 cents was the symbol of Los Angeles.

The first 13 customers who entered at just 99 cents at the grand opening in 1982 got an extra special deal: 99-cent TVs.

Founder David Gold hasn't looked back. Within two years, the family opened two more locations. By 1991, there were twenty. By 2011, there were 289 locations dotted on the map across the Southwest.

“We were crowded from the beginning,” Howard Gould, David's son, told The Times last week.

Two parts to the winning formula:

Price: “When I put a 99-cent mark on anything, it was gone in no time,” David Gould told The Times in 2003. “It was a magic number.” Quality: “My father really loved the merchandise,” daughter Karen Schiffer said in his 2013 Times obituary.

Here's one great example found by journalists Andrea Chang and Lawrence Darmenteau:

Before the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the retailer purchased 500,000 authentic Olympic souvenir hats for 37 cents each. The price per piece was 99 cents, while other stores offered them for $8. Soon, the three 99-cent-only stores were filled with customers.

The store had been struggling for several years.

Los Angeles private equity firm Ares Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought Just 99 Cents in 2011 for $1.6 billion.

The sale has saddled the company with a huge debt load. Coronavirus has changed the nature of shopping. In the end, the company was unable to commit to a 99-cent price. Whatever the reason, customers reacted poorly.

Read more about the company's stunning downfall here.

I can't be the only one who has fond memories of just 99 cents.

When I think of the store, I'm taken back to high school, when you could get three bars or boxes of your favorite brand-name candy for less than a dollar. This paired well with a movie night at the Dollar Theater across the street – and saved me a teenage fortune by avoiding inflated concession prices. You just had to wear the right jacket to sneak in low-cost contraband.

As my teacher wife can attest, 99-cent stores are invaluable for underpaid, overworked teachers looking to stock up on school supplies and classroom decor.

The bargain store was a great equalizer.

Times columnist Gustavo Arellano eulogized the SoCal staple this week.

“Although it was a multibillion-dollar company, 99 Cents Only operated under a premise straight out of the Great Depression: a fair shake for everyone who got in,” Gustavo wrote. “Here, the retiree shopped alongside the hipster, and the only colors that mattered were the bright blues and pinks on each store’s display.”

Many of the company's stores operate in “food deserts.” With hundreds of stores set to close, thousands of people in communities that lack access to healthy, affordable food will have one less option.

“I make good money, and buying here helps. But imagine if you were on WIC? If you were on Social Security? You need a place like this. Now are people supposed to go to Ralphs? Or Target? With what money?” Victor Barrios said to Gustavo.

There is one last deal.

Out-of-business sales began on Friday and are expected to end on April 19, with store-wide prices reduced by up to 30%.

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For your downtime

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Finally…from our archives

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On this day 54 years ago, Apollo 13 launched but suffered an oxygen tank explosion on its way to the Moon, threatening the lives of three astronauts. After the Apollo 13 crew heard a powerful explosion, they radioed Mission Control: “Houston, we have a problem.”

Have a great day from the Essential California team

Ryan Fonseca, journalist
Kevinisha Walker is a multi-platform editor and Saturday correspondent
Christian Orozco, associate editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy editor of Metro
Karim Domar, Head of the Bulletin Department

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