99 Cent Only Stores is closing all locations, including those in the Tucson area.
Liquidation sales have begun at the 371 stores in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas.
Merchandise includes household items, party favors and fresh produce. Fixtures, furnishings and equipment will also be sold.
Gift cards and merchandise credit will be honored through April 19. All sales during the store closing will be final.
The Tucson locations are at 4144 N. Oracle Road, 1675 W. Valencia Road, 7125 E. Golf Links Road and 4160 W. Ina Road. There is also a store at 740 W. Calle Arroyo Sur in Sahuarita.
The vacated stores will be sold or leased upon closure, which is expected this summer.
The company cited shifting consumer demand, inflation and shoplifting as reasons for closing.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” said Interim CEO Mike Simoncic, who will be stepping down. “Unfortunately, the last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment.”
The shuttering of 99 Cents Only Stores comes after fellow discount retailer Dollar Tree last month said it was closing 1,000 stores.
99 Cents Only Stores was founded in 1982 by Dave Gold, who opened its first store in Los Angeles at the age of 50, according to his 2013 obituary in the Los Angeles Times. Gold, who had been working at a liquor store owned by his father, found that marking down surplus items to 99 cents caused them to sell out “in no time,” fueling his desire to launch a new spin on the dollar store.
“I realized it was a magic number,” he told the Times. “I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to have a store where everything was good quality and everything was 99 cents?”
Brushing off doubting friends and family members, Gold forged ahead. His idea caught on quickly, even in middle-class and upscale neighborhoods, allowing the company to go public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1996. It was later sold for roughly $1.6 billion in 2011.
While the chain initially sold most items priced at 99 cents, in recent decades that became untenable, although the company kept its trademarked name.
