99 CENT ONLY closing

[Retailuser]

This seems like one of the worst going out of business operations I have come across.

[Bagels]

Sparks 99 Only was told their last day will be April 28. They had previously been told June 3.

There is still a LOT of product in the backroom at this store. They are not making much effort to get it out onto the sales floor. I am wondering if they will just pick it up and sell it in SoCal.

It appears they threw all of their produce away as there is no way they sold it all at 5% off and they were still putting new produce out Sunday when I was there. There is no produce. They really need to clean this place. I didn't like what I saw scurrying between shelves/going under shelves on one of the aisles.

Reno 99 Only also has a LOT of inventory in its backroom. Carson City 99 Only has little on the sales floor and the backroom is almost empty. Not sure if these two had their closing date moved up. They are both no longer adhering to the store hours of 9-9 and seem to close whenever they feel like it more than an hour early. I will be curious to find out if these two got their closing date made sooner too.

OC Register reports $1.6B in Long term debt, yet the bankruptcy doesn't list it in top creditors. Making me think the debt is to the PE owners which means all the returns go to them, and they hadn't defaulted on that debt. Still very odd that there are discrepancies. The property list is a mix, some properties are probably very valuable others less so.

Reports indicate the chain hasn’t been profitable EBTID since 2016, so again, private equity isn’t to blame. Obviously everyone is raising prices — even Dollar Tree — and 99’s customer base fled as it raised theirs, leading to the owners shutting it down.


Even I’m guilty. They raised the prices on items I buy, like Del Monte ketchup and sloppy joe sauce, from $1 to $1.30 last year and I started avoiding the chain… even though the new price points are still lower then anywhere else. And you could always get sloppy joe sauce — we enjoy sloppy joes a few times a year and many stores no longer carry it (many Ralphs don’t stock even Manwhich sauce).

Grocery Outlet carries most of the products that 99 once procured and the prices are insane. $3.99 for Strouffers / Lean Cuisine entrees that have been discontinued. That’s more than regular sales prices even at Ralph’s.

[Bagels]

So the backrooms are STUFFED FULL in both Reno and Sparks. The stores are closing on or BY April 28 (some employees think they could be closed any second). So I asked what is happening to the stuff in the backroom. I was told they are going to pick it all up and nothing more is going to be stocked. No clue where it is going. The stores are pretty empty.

I've never heard of a total liquidation having the company "picking up" an entire backroom worth of product. These backrooms are a huge mess. There are partially opened boxes, seasonal stuff that never got put out, etc.

I am wondering if that Pic N Save has had talks to take on some inventory so they can quickly turn around and reopen some stores...

These stores were supplied by distribution in Commerce, CA which is almost 500 miles away... assuming that is where the stuff is being taken back to...

They’re burning through inventory locally. They may feel it’s more beneficial to get the stock to stores where it will sell for higher prices. The trade off of trucking it is probably washed out by closing the stores.

Most stores near me have only toys and gwneral merchandise left. Very little food at all. No produce left but the cashier told me people bought it, it wasn’t tossed. Meanwhile the empty coolers are still running.

[storewanderer]

So the backrooms are STUFFED FULL in both Reno and Sparks. The stores are closing on or BY April 28 (some employees think they could be closed any second). So I asked what is happening to the stuff in the backroom. I was told they are going to pick it all up and nothing more is going to be stocked. No clue where it is going. The stores are pretty empty.

I've never heard of a total liquidation having the company "picking up" an entire backroom worth of product. These backrooms are a huge mess. There are partially opened boxes, seasonal stuff that never got put out, etc.

I am wondering if that Pic N Save has had talks to take on some inventory so they can quickly turn around and reopen some stores...

These stores were supplied by distribution in Commerce, CA which is almost 500 miles away... assuming that is where the stuff is being taken back to...

They’re burning through inventory locally. They may feel it’s more beneficial to get the stock to stores where it will sell for higher prices. The trade off of trucking it is probably washed out by closing the stores.

Most stores near me have only toys and gwneral merchandise left. Very little food at all. No produce left but the cashier told me people bought it, it wasn’t tossed. Meanwhile the empty coolers are still running.

All 3 stores here still have coolers sort of stocked; two stores about 50% stocked, one store maybe 20% stocked. Dairy is all gone. Bread is all gone. They owe Safeway $1 million+.

Food is not well stocked at any of the stores but certain categories within food are well stocked (still a lot of bottled water/seltzer). The cleaning aisles are basically 100% empty. They still have a lot of Summer, Easter, Party, Toys, Bed Bath, Office Supplies, and Drug/HBA left.

Also at least some bay area stores were told they close April 28 also...

[wnetmacman]

I've never heard of a total liquidation having the company "picking up" an entire backroom worth of product. These backrooms are a huge mess. There are partially opened boxes, seasonal stuff that never got put out, etc. .

My guess is that either Pic N Save or Ollie's is about to have a "Major Retailer Buyout" sale. Ollie's does this almost every time a company with items compatible with their stores goes out of business - Bed Bath & Beyond stuff is still there in some stores.

[reymann]

The landlords at the 99 cents only at first/bullard in fresno want them gone ASAP. They have a couple of tenants lined up to take up their site and the former rite aid site with grocery outlet eyeballing the space 99 is at and the library for the former rite aid site which 99 previously objected.

[ClownLoach]

I've never heard of a total liquidation having the company "picking up" an entire backroom worth of product. These backrooms are a huge mess. There are partially opened boxes, seasonal stuff that never got put out, etc. .

My guess is that either Pic N Save or Ollie's is about to have a "Major Retailer Buyout" sale. Ollie's does this almost every time a company with items compatible with their stores goes out of business - Bed Bath & Beyond stuff is still there in some stores.

I mean Pic N Save is two small stores, both so poorly merchandised that they couldn't fit one 99 store back room on their floors without bringing the store fixtures with them. I don't take them seriously in their dream of reopening all these sites which sound like they already have other tenants lined up or they would have to buy the buildings.

Ollie's could be a buyer, but one concern I have is that these stores have tiny back rooms. In fact many of their stores have the same Trader Joe's issue where they pile pallets out back under awnings or tents. The one by me would just keep shoving pallets onto the floor and if you couldn't get to the aisle you wanted, "too bad!" So they look full but don't hold much. I don't think there is as much merchandise back there as one might think, and these stores used to be moving a full semi trailer worth per day. They need to basically sell off one trailer by the end of the month and then abandon all the fixtures and such? They're definitely going to be successful in selling these out to the bare walls and giving the landlord the keys by the 28th. They can take the whole store to 10¢ an item and people will buy cartloads. These items are so cheap the dollar value isn't there to spend the shipping expense on moving them, I would not be surprised if they order a dumpster and load it with remaining merchandise instead of moving it. Assume they're spending $2500 a load to move merchandise that would get a return of what, $2500, plus they need to spend labor at both ends to load and unload and stock? They're not moving any thing.

Make no mistake - the high energy prices are driving inflation and killing these dollar stores. I don't care what the clown economists say as they can't see the real world from their lavishly appointed University and Government offices, and the news is starting to turn and point at both energy and interest rates as being the real culprit for the rampant inflation. If we don't get movement in both there will not be any dollar store format left.

[storewanderer]

Store hours are back to closing at 9 PM in Reno. They supposedly got in trouble for making the decision to close at 8 PM.

They have a lot of pallets in the back room ready to be picked up.

They are still allowed to restock seasonal items only if they find seasonal items in the backroom but cannot restock anything else. The rest of the stuff is getting picked up. A lot of food.

Also saw a number of containers of yogurt that expired in January in the refrigerator. Just pathetic operation.

I cannot find a WARN notice filed for their layoffs in CA either on the CA EDD site. Can anyone else find a WARN notice? The corporate office and distribution center would absolutely be over 50 employees and I'd venture a guess that a portion of the stores in CA have over 50 employees as well.

I am starting to wonder if this is going to be like Fallas who seems to have gone bankrupt and had liquidation sales multiple times but then reopens shortly thereafter running what seems like the same format.

[ClownLoach]

I am starting to wonder if this is going to be like Fallas who seems to have gone bankrupt and had liquidation sales multiple times but then reopens shortly thereafter running what seems like the same format.

Well I've received quite a bit of flack here for suggesting that not all is what it seems based on the filings too. It is very likely that the "long term debt" is really paper held by the PE firm which is why it isn't on the bankruptcy, and that could align with a drastic downsizing strategy with partial sale (as is being speculated that Aldi is acquiring blocks of stores outside of the SoCal core). Maybe there is more to the story of this guy from the embryonic Pic-N-Save relaunch "saving the company" and reopening SoCal but with the existing ownership and him as the new CEO since they would need one. The lack of inclusion of the large debt that newspapers report on, coupled with the chapter 11 instead of more appropriate chapter 7 indicates that they intend to mold this bankruptcy into some sort of end product operating asset for ownership to walk away with.

It seems to be universally agreed upon that they needed to dump everything outside of SoCal. Texas especially was a bust. You need bankruptcy protection to dump anything unwanted. Selling a large chunk of leases intact to a chain like Aldi would once again require a bankruptcy as otherwise the landlords could reject a sale or demand renegotiated higher rents. If it's court ordered in bankruptcy then the lease is transferred regardless of other clauses or restrictions and the assets move "free and clear" as they are effectively "cleansed" by the court process so past debts like property taxes and back rent aren't the responsibility of the buyer.

So lots of evidence pointing to all these outcomes. Rumored sale of large blocks of stores to Aldi that align with their vague previous announcement of imminent southwestern US expansion (Norcal and I wonder if they would pick up anything else out of state). Outright closure of properties unwanted and unsellable at no cost thanks to bankruptcy law. Sale of real estate to get some cash for an ongoing operation. Liquidation returns once again to get cash for an ongoing operation. Possibility of new execs like the PNS guy and such at the new HQ to relaunch as a refocused SoCal only chain. Bankruptcy that doesn't wipe out the equity of the ownership by not going chapter 7 and not including what is assuredly ownership financed debt.

I definitely think that we are all onto something here. The timing of this group saying that they were already fully assembled to save and relaunch the stores, as if they were the Avengers, is also suspect. You can't put that together overnight. I suspect that there will indeed be a reopened chain because of the "unprecedented consumer demand" for the stores to remain in SoCal and maybe a few other pockets.

At the end of the day they're privately held and can pretty much get away with whatever the heck they want to do with a chapter 11.

[Retailuser]

https://shopgenius.com/99-cents-only-stores/
Now has a list of locations closing in April and the others that will close later.