FORMERLY PE OWNED
99 Cents Only Stores
Includes 99 Cents Only
discount · Commerce, CA
- PE Firm
- Ares Management →
- Year Acquired
- 2012
A $1.6 billion buyout of a dollar store. Twelve years later: 371 stores dark, more than 10,800 jobs gone.
What Happened
- Ares Management and CPPIB bought 99 Cents Only for $1.6B in 2012. By 2024 the company was insolvent and announced total liquidation
- All 371 stores permanently closed beginning April 5, 2024
- The 2012 buyout loaded the chain with debt, then the losses piled up: a $30.8M operating loss in 2022 and nearly $60M more in the first three quarters of 2023
- Dollar Tree scooped up leases for 170 former 99 Cents Only locations
The Damage Done
- Hundreds of low-income communities across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas lost their go-to discount store overnight, with many having no comparable alternative nearby
- Items priced at 99 cents or less dropped from 65% of merchandise in 2020 to below 50% by 2023 — a dollar store where most things cost more than a dollar
- Gift cards and store credits were honored only through April 19, 2024, then went worthless
- More than 10,800 workers lost their jobs as the chain dissolved
Sources
- 99 Cents Only to close all 371 locations — Retail TouchPoints(2024-04-04)
- 99 Cents Only to liquidate — Retail Dive(2024-04-04)
- Shrink Contributed to 99 Cents' Demise, And So Did An LBO — Sourcing Journal (WWD)(2024-04-09)
- 99 Cents Only files for Chapter 11 — Retail Dive(2024-04-08)
- 99 Cents Only Stores Announces Going-Out-of-Business Sale Across All Locations — PRNewswire / Hilco Global(2024-04-05)
- Dollar Tree, Inc. Completes Transaction for 170 '99 Cents Only Stores' — Dollar Tree corporate(2024-05-29)