The rise and fall of 99 Cents Only
Good morning. It’s Thursday, April 11. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- 99 Cents Only was an L.A. icon. That couldn’t save it.
- Another cold, wet storm is set to hit SoCal this weekend.
- The unmissable addition to Disneyland’s Star Tours ride.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper.
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The rise and fall of 99 Cents Only
Californians love a bargain. For more than 40 years, we’ve found one at 99 Cents Only. But the iconic store announced last week that it will close all of its locations.
99 Cents Only was an L.A. icon.
The first 13 customers who walked into 99 Cents Only at its Grand Opening in 1982 got an extra special deal: 99 cent televisions.
Founder David Gold didn’t look back. Within two years, the family opened two more locations. By 1991, there were two dozen. By 2011, 289 dotted the map across the South West.
“We were jam-packed from the beginning,” Howard Gold, David’s son, told The Times last week.
Two parts to the winning formula:
- The price: “When I put a 99-cent sign on anything, it was gone in no time,” David Gold told The Times in 2003. “It was a magic number.”
- The quality: “My dad really loved the merchandise,” daughter Karen Schiffer said in his 2013 Times obituary.
Here’s one great example reporters Andrea Chang and Laurence Darmiento found:
Just before the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the retailer purchased 500,000 authentic Olympic souvenir hats for 37 cents each. It priced them at 99 cents apiece, when other shops listed them at $8. The three 99 Cents Only stores were soon inundated 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 99 Cents Only in 2011, for $1.6 billion.
The sale saddled the company with a huge debt load. COVID changed the nature of shopping. And ultimately, the company couldn’t stick to the 99 cent price tag. Whatever the reason, customers reacted poorly.
Read more about the company’s stunning fall here.
I can’t be the only one with fond memories of 99 Cents Only.
When I think of the store, I’m transported back to high school, when you could get three bars or boxes of your favorite name-brand candy for under $1. This paired nicely with a movie night at the dollar theater across the street — and saved teenage me a fortune by avoiding inflated concession stand prices. You just had to wear the right jacket to sneak in your low-cost contraband.
And as my educator wife can attest, 99 Cents Only stores are invaluable for underpaid, overworked teachers looking to stock up on school supplies and classroom decorations.
The bargain store was a great equalizer.
Proud penny-pincher and Times columnist Gustavo Arellano eulogized the SoCal staple this week.
“Even though it was a multibillion-dollar company, 99 Cents Only operated under a premise straight from the Great Depression: a fair shake for everyone who entered,” Gustavo wrote. “Here, the retiree shopped alongside the hipster, and the only colors that mattered were the bright blue and pink on the marquee of each store.”
Many of the company’s stores operate in “food deserts.” With hundreds of stores preparing to close, thousands of people in communities that lack access to healthy, affordable food will have one less option.
“I make OK money, and buying here helps me. But imagine if you’re on WIC? If you’re on Social Security? You need a place like this. Are people now supposed to go to Ralphs? Or Target? With what money?” Victor Barrios told Gustavo.
There’s one final bargain.
Going-out-of-business sales began Friday and are expected to end April 19, with prices storewide slashed by up to 30%.
Today’s top stories
California home insurance crisis
- Upscale Westside L.A. neighborhoods are hit very hard by State Farm home insurance cancellations.
- State Farm won’t renew 72,000 insurance policies in California, worsening the state’s insurance crisis.
- California’s home insurer of last resort sees an enrollment surge, raising concerns over its finances.
- California’s home insurance crisis: What went wrong, how it can be fixed and what owners can do.
- California insurer of last resort says it’s not prepared for a big disaster.
Rising water rates
- SoCal will see a spike in water rates and taxes to cover rising costs and conservation efforts.
- As water rates climb, many are struggling to pay for an essential service.
Heists and burglaries in L.A.
- Shattered windows, slashed tires and GPS trackers: L.A. freeway heists shock jewelers.
- Sophisticated ‘burglary tourists’ fly from South America to rob wealthy homes, LAPD says.
- A neighbor heard odd noises amid a heist of up to $30 million from a Sylmar vault.
Coachella 2024
- Coachella was the gold standard of music festivals. Has it lost its shine?
- Why is Coachella headliner Doja Cat L.A.’s only female rap megastar?
- Eighteen acts we can’t wait to see at Coachella 2024.
- Coachella 2024: Everything you need to know about the festival.
- 2024 Coachella food lineup is stacked with heavy hitters from L.A.’s dining scene.
- Taylor Swift at Coachella? These are the 3 sets where our experts think she could appear.
More big stories
- Summer heat won’t last: Another cold, wet storm is set to hit SoCal this weekend.
- Santa Monica luxury towers, HOA fees, alleged theft: Where did the millions go?
- All-cash offers and wealthy buyers push Southern California home prices to a record.
- Mother who pushed kids from a moving car, and killed her partner was an astrology influencer disturbed by the eclipse.
- Did the Dodgers underestimate the value of Shohei Ohtani’s first homer? It may be worth $100,000.
- William Howell wrote Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban. He modeled it on California’s.
- A truck and a large chain: Thieves make off with Pasadena’s bronze light posts.
- L.A. school district probes inappropriate images shared at Fairfax High. More AI abuse?
- ‘Please leave!’ A Jewish UC Berkeley dean confronts pro-Palestinian activist at his home.
- Cornel West selects L.A. professor and activist Melina Abdullah as presidential running mate.
- A UC Berkeley insider known for questioning the status quo is named new chancellor.
- Two women walking near the Venice canals were clubbed from behind, spurring LAPD patrols.
- Why Biden is getting little credit for the economy, especially in California.
- Former Dodger Julio Urías charged with five misdemeanors stemming from 2023 arrest.
- Why would anyone steal $300,000 in Lego sets? Believe it or not, there’s a booming black market.
- OK, the eclipse was cool, but those glasses aren’t. Now what?
- Pleasing English teachers, pesky typos on Lakers’ Kobe Bryant statue are corrected.
- Photos: Southland celebrates Eid al-Fitr.
- Rod Carew says rift with Arte Moreno is the reason he won’t visit Angel Stadium.
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Commentary and opinions
- Editorial: Financial literacy is important for teens to learn along with math and science.
- Jackie Calmes: Trump 1.0 made some world leaders laugh. Trump 2.0 terrifies them.
- Bill Plaschke: Lakers’ final stretch filled with headache, nausea and dimming hopes.
- Anita Chabria: Trump is exploiting Ruby Garcia’s death to depict immigrants as ‘animals.’
- Harry Litman: Jack Smith’s latest push to get Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 trial moving before the election.
- Bill Shaikin: The Dodgers should embrace villainy — and Villains Barber Shop’s merchandise.
Today’s great reads
A California border town’s first transgender mayor faces recall. Is gender the reason? In rural Calexico, Raúl Ureña, the town’s first out transgender mayor, faces a recall election. So does most of the City Council.
Other great reads
- Hollywood’s stunt-driving industry is dominated by men. These women are fighting for change.
- A Salvadoran cookbook from a major publisher is finally here. Why did it take so long?
- A little too obsessed with Taylor Swift? It might be a coping mechanism.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your downtime
Going out
- 🐋 The unmissable addition to Disneyland’s Star Tours ride? Space whales.
- 📚If you love cookbooks, come see us at the L.A. Times Festival of Books.
Staying in
- 📙 A new Mediterranean cookbook from José Andrés celebrates ‘dishes that belong to the people.’
- 📺 ‘Joker 2’ trailer: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga lead twisted, musical fever dream.
- 🎥 Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant are reuniting for a fourth ‘Bridget Jones’ movie — premiering on Peacock in 2025.
- 🧑🍳 Here’s a recipe for Joan Nathan’s Ann Arbor Schnecken (Sticky Pecan Rolls).
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
And finally ... from our archives
On this day 54 years ago, Apollo 13 launched but suffered an oxygen tank explosion en route to the moon, threatening the lives of three astronauts. After the loud explosion was heard by the Apollo 13 crew, they radioed mission control: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor and Saturday reporter
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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