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Discount store 99 Cents Only has announced it will close its 371 locations, citing high inflation and increased theft as the reason for the closures.
The West Coast brand, which has stores in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada, announced the news in a press release Thursday without giving a timeline for the closures.
It comes amid a widespread “retail apocalypse” as brick-and-mortar stores struggle to combat rampant theft and ever-tightening margins.
Rival budget retailer Dollar Tree recently announced plans to close nearly 1,000 stores while raising its price cap.
Mike Simoncic, interim CEO of 99 Cents, said in a statement: “This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve.”
Discount store 99 Cents Only has announced it will close its 371 stores, citing high inflation and increased theft as the reason for the closure.
Rival budget retailer Dollar Tree recently announced plans to close nearly 1,000 stores while raising its price cap.
“Unfortunately, recent years have presented significant and long-lasting challenges to the retail environment, including the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in consumer demand, rising levels of shrinkage, persistent inflationary pressures and other macroeconomic headwinds, all of which have greatly hampered the company’s ability to operate.
Retailers use the term “shrinkage” to refer to the value of goods that are lost or stolen in the store.
99 Cents Only Stores is the latest to close outlets this year or announce plans to do so.
Walmart closed three in 2024 and will close three more in weeks.
Best Buy permanently closed ten stores this month and now has 100 fewer stores than before the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Dollar Tree has announced plans to close 1,000, Macy’s has said it will eliminate 150 (a third of its total) and Rite Aid pharmacy is closing 77.
Last year, major US chains including Target, CVS, Macy’s and Rite Aid were behind the closure of nearly 3,000 stores in 2023.
Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s has raised the price of a banana from 19 cents to 23 cents. It is equivalent to an increase of 21 percent.
Fascinating data seen by DailyMail.com reveals that inflation has eroded around a third of the purchasing power of $100 at the supermarket in the last five years.
While all stores struggle to keep up with inflation, it hits budget retailers the hardest due to their already tight margins.
Dollar Tree said last month it was raising the maximum price on its products to $7.
Meanwhile, Trader Joe’s has raised the price of a banana from 19 cents to 23 cents. This amounts to an increase of 21 percent.
The annual inflation rate rose slightly to 3.2 percent in February, the latest data available.
It marks a decline from a 40-year high of 9.1 percent in June 2022, but remains well above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.
Fascinating data seen by DailyMail.com reveals that inflation has eroded around a third of the purchasing power of $100 at the supermarket in the last five years.
In 2019, the sum would have bought shoppers a 32-item healthy bag complete with milk, eggs, cereal, dish soap and more.
However, today customers would have to remove at least 10 of those products from their basket to maintain the same budget.