The byline, "Former CEO of Pic ‘N’ Save wants stores to get back to their SoCal ‘treasure hunt’ roots.", says exactly what I've been saying about 99 cents only and Big Lots. When they stopped being fun, they stopped being a great place to shop. When they stopped being a great place to shop, shoppers stopped shopping there. Guess what happens next?
At least the TJX family of stores, in their partial shift away from the treasure-hunt experience and towards stocking brands made just for them, stock quality merchandise. IMO, the home merchandise at TJX stores is of the same quality as The Container Store and back-in-the-day BBB. The stuff at 99 cents only and Big Lots is just crap.
Big Lots is basically lost and gone. It isn't a treasure hunt in the slightest.
99 Only was still a treasure hunt... the inventory was still constantly changing; the problem was there were not enough treasures. A ton of junk.
I really like the idea of 143 SoCal only stores. Hopefully that is enough stores to continue to support the various small suppliers 99 Only used (I suspect these 143 SoCal Stores made up 67% of the chain's total sales) so they don't end up out of business. And at that same time it is few enough stores that they should be able to find enough inventory to make the "treasure hunt" happen. SoCal is uniquely positioned for logistics purposes to have a chain that does this be successful. 99 Only was designed to take advantage of everything available to it from its SoCal base- abundant source of closeout non foods from various small manufacturers/distributors/port, easy access to a lot of low cost produce, easy access to odd branded food from food manufacturing facility, easy access to procure certain items from Mexico to get lower cost (have seen this on butter, paper products, and some bread products there). I never understood why they screwed around in Texas. Their concept and operation didn't make sense there. And they were sending most of their product from SoCal suppliers including food all the way out to Texas. Not much there was coming from "closer" sources.
The byline, "Former CEO of Pic ‘N’ Save wants stores to get back to their SoCal ‘treasure hunt’ roots.", says exactly what I've been saying about 99 cents only and Big Lots. When they stopped being fun, they stopped being a great place to shop. When they stopped being a great place to shop, shoppers stopped shopping there. Guess what happens next?
At least the TJX family of stores, in their partial shift away from the treasure-hunt experience and towards stocking brands made just for them, stock quality merchandise. IMO, the home merchandise at TJX stores is of the same quality as The Container Store and back-in-the-day BBB. The stuff at 99 cents only and Big Lots is just crap.
Big Lots is basically lost and gone. It isn't a treasure hunt in the slightest.
99 Only was still a treasure hunt... the inventory was still constantly changing; the problem was there were not enough treasures. A ton of junk.
I really like the idea of 143 SoCal only stores. Hopefully that is enough stores to continue to support the various small suppliers 99 Only used (I suspect these 143 SoCal Stores made up 67% of the chain's total sales) so they don't end up out of business. And at that same time it is few enough stores that they should be able to find enough inventory to make the "treasure hunt" happen. SoCal is uniquely positioned for logistics purposes to have a chain that does this be successful. 99 Only was designed to take advantage of everything available to it from its SoCal base- abundant source of closeout non foods from various small manufacturers/distributors/port, easy access to a lot of low cost produce, easy access to odd branded food from food manufacturing facility, easy access to procure certain items from Mexico to get lower cost (have seen this on butter, paper products, and some bread products there). I never understood why they screwed around in Texas. Their concept and operation didn't make sense there. And they were sending most of their product from SoCal suppliers including food all the way out to Texas. Not much there was coming from "closer" sources.
They did have a wholesale operation that supplied dollar stores to Texas, so there was that, too. I've been discussing 99 Cents Only with other people, they bought a huge distribution center that they purchased from Albertsons in 2003, probably the original idea was to blanket the Gulf Coast with stores (as Albertsons had intended to do). After 2009 and the closing of a number of stores, they changed merchandising operations. They closed the stores in the middle/upper-middle class areas and added food, but the food product was not good (a lot of the fresh stuff of course arrived nearly rotten) and by the early 2010s they were only in low-end shopping centers and neighborhoods.
They had a following in Hispanic areas and they did open a new store in El Paso as late as 2022.
The byline, "Former CEO of Pic ‘N’ Save wants stores to get back to their SoCal ‘treasure hunt’ roots.", says exactly what I've been saying about 99 cents only and Big Lots. When they stopped being fun, they stopped being a great place to shop. When they stopped being a great place to shop, shoppers stopped shopping there. Guess what happens next?
At least the TJX family of stores, in their partial shift away from the treasure-hunt experience and towards stocking brands made just for them, stock quality merchandise. IMO, the home merchandise at TJX stores is of the same quality as The Container Store and back-in-the-day BBB. The stuff at 99 cents only and Big Lots is just crap.
Big Lots is basically lost and gone. It isn't a treasure hunt in the slightest.
99 Only was still a treasure hunt... the inventory was still constantly changing; the problem was there were not enough treasures. A ton of junk.
I really like the idea of 143 SoCal only stores. Hopefully that is enough stores to continue to support the various small suppliers 99 Only used (I suspect these 143 SoCal Stores made up 67% of the chain's total sales) so they don't end up out of business. And at that same time it is few enough stores that they should be able to find enough inventory to make the "treasure hunt" happen. SoCal is uniquely positioned for logistics purposes to have a chain that does this be successful. 99 Only was designed to take advantage of everything available to it from its SoCal base- abundant source of closeout non foods from various small manufacturers/distributors/port, easy access to a lot of low cost produce, easy access to odd branded food from food manufacturing facility, easy access to procure certain items from Mexico to get lower cost (have seen this on butter, paper products, and some bread products there). I never understood why they screwed around in Texas. Their concept and operation didn't make sense there. And they were sending most of their product from SoCal suppliers including food all the way out to Texas. Not much there was coming from "closer" sources.
He's actually the current CEO of Pic 'N' Save Bargains.
His two currently open stores are probably the best clue on how he'd run the former 99 Cents Only stores.
They did have a wholesale operation that supplied dollar stores to Texas, so there was that, too. I've been discussing 99 Cents Only with other people, they bought a huge distribution center that they purchased from Albertsons in 2003, probably the original idea was to blanket the Gulf Coast with stores (as Albertsons had intended to do). After 2009 and the closing of a number of stores, they changed merchandising operations. They closed the stores in the middle/upper-middle class areas and added food, but the food product was not good (a lot of the fresh stuff of course arrived nearly rotten) and by the early 2010s they were only in low-end shopping centers and neighborhoods.
They had a following in Hispanic areas and they did open a new store in El Paso as late as 2022.
Bargain Wholesale is showing as closed in Katy, TX but still shows open in Commerce, CA. They had mock stores at both warehouses but it appears at some point between 2017-2022 the mock store in Katy closed and they shifted to online ordering only there- these mock stores were basically a smaller 99 Only Store aisles set up, but not an actual active store; you went in, at least in Commerce, and basically "picked" the items you wanted from the aisles then told them how many cases you wanted. Paid and loaded out at a dock.
I went into a couple of the Houston ones last year; same situation as Reno. Dirty, broken equipment, smelled bad, poorly stocked, horrible looking perishables. Also very few customers. One was in what felt like a neutral area typical early 00's big power center type place right off the toll road, the other was not great. You would be shocked to see these stores in CA- they are clean, bright, neat, staffed fairly well. Like a different chain.
CalItalian wrote: ↑April 6th, 2024, 1:05 pm
He's actually the current CEO of Pic 'N' Save Bargains.
His two currently open stores are probably the best clue on how he'd run the former 99 Cents Only stores.
I think they'd have to make some pretty significant changes. 99 Only is a lot different than these stores. The greater focus on groceries and consumables are why 99 Only was so high traffic. Taking the 99 Only food/consumables/seasonal program and putting this general merchandise program on top of it would probably be effective.
Those Pic N Save also don't look to have many customers.
CalItalian wrote: ↑April 6th, 2024, 1:05 pm
He's actually the current CEO of Pic 'N' Save Bargains.
His two currently open stores are probably the best clue on how he'd run the former 99 Cents Only stores.
I think they'd have to make some pretty significant changes. 99 Only is a lot different than these stores. The greater focus on groceries and consumables are why 99 Only was so high traffic. Taking the 99 Only food/consumables/seasonal program and putting this general merchandise program on top of it would probably be effective.
Those Pic N Save also don't look to have many customers.
They spent the appropriate amount of money on Anaheim with good fixtures and signage. The second one looks very concerning, basically used fixtures and thrown together. Anaheim is on a busy corner yet does not do much business at all. I would have expected they would be much busier and the poor condition of the newer store indicates they don't have the money to get it right. Really no consumables in these stores.
CalItalian wrote: ↑April 6th, 2024, 1:05 pm
He's actually the current CEO of Pic 'N' Save Bargains.
His two currently open stores are probably the best clue on how he'd run the former 99 Cents Only stores.
I think they'd have to make some pretty significant changes. 99 Only is a lot different than these stores. The greater focus on groceries and consumables are why 99 Only was so high traffic. Taking the 99 Only food/consumables/seasonal program and putting this general merchandise program on top of it would probably be effective.
Those Pic N Save also don't look to have many customers.
The article states that if he successfully acquires it, the stores would be closed for 90 days for re-merchandising. I suspect that a reimagined “99” would no longer carry perishables. I bet the perishables lose money but are treated as a loss leader to get people into the stores. Even just a couple years ago, you could score some huge savings … but now prices are a hair below supermarkets but the quality is lacking. Romain hearts use to be $1 whereas Albertsons & Ralph’s were charging $3.49. Now they’ve been at $2.99 at Albertsons is $3.99 (Ralph’s $4.49). The “99” product is less colorful and flavorful. I bet you can get a better price at Aldi and ethic markets.
Couples use to make 99 still a bargain at times, but their app hasn’t been functioning since late last year, sans the ads section.
CalItalian wrote: ↑April 6th, 2024, 1:05 pm
He's actually the current CEO of Pic 'N' Save Bargains.
His two currently open stores are probably the best clue on how he'd run the former 99 Cents Only stores.
I think they'd have to make some pretty significant changes. 99 Only is a lot different than these stores. The greater focus on groceries and consumables are why 99 Only was so high traffic. Taking the 99 Only food/consumables/seasonal program and putting this general merchandise program on top of it would probably be effective.
Those Pic N Save also don't look to have many customers.
The article states that if he successfully acquires it, the stores would be closed for 90 days for re-merchandising. I suspect that a reimagined “99” would no longer carry perishables. I bet the perishables lose money but are treated as a loss leader to get people into the stores. Even just a couple years ago, you could score some huge savings … but now prices are a hair below supermarkets but the quality is lacking. Romain hearts use to be $1 whereas Albertsons & Ralph’s were charging $3.49. Now they’ve been at $2.99 at Albertsons is $3.99 (Ralph’s $4.49). The “99” product is less colorful and flavorful. I bet you can get a better price at Aldi and ethic markets.
Couples use to make 99 still a bargain at times, but their app hasn’t been functioning since late last year, sans the ads section.
Let's face it, this is a "hail Mary" desperate attempt to put together a partial buyout when there is no bankruptcy involved. These private equity folks obviously have the plan to cash out everything they can and write off all the rest as a massive loss against their taxes. They notably did not file bankruptcy which is why this took us all by surprise, and that means that any buyer would have to play entirely by the sellers rules here. They stand to make more money by completely killing the business. Every day these stores have a store closing sale going on the brand is degraded and chances of any successful resurrection reduce. I agree the perishables had to be a loss leader, and then the stores mismanaged them by failing to rotate and keep the coolers stocked properly so much of it probably became more shrink than sales. I also suspect they had triple net leases which are not desirable for a startup, and many California locations were very old and had deferred maintenance issues.
I think they'd have to make some pretty significant changes. 99 Only is a lot different than these stores. The greater focus on groceries and consumables are why 99 Only was so high traffic. Taking the 99 Only food/consumables/seasonal program and putting this general merchandise program on top of it would probably be effective.
Those Pic N Save also don't look to have many customers.
The article states that if he successfully acquires it, the stores would be closed for 90 days for re-merchandising. I suspect that a reimagined “99” would no longer carry perishables. I bet the perishables lose money but are treated as a loss leader to get people into the stores. Even just a couple years ago, you could score some huge savings … but now prices are a hair below supermarkets but the quality is lacking. Romain hearts use to be $1 whereas Albertsons & Ralph’s were charging $3.49. Now they’ve been at $2.99 at Albertsons is $3.99 (Ralph’s $4.49). The “99” product is less colorful and flavorful. I bet you can get a better price at Aldi and ethic markets.
Couples use to make 99 still a bargain at times, but their app hasn’t been functioning since late last year, sans the ads section.
Let's face it, this is a "hail Mary" desperate attempt to put together a partial buyout when there is no bankruptcy involved. These private equity folks obviously have the plan to cash out everything they can and write off all the rest as a massive loss against their taxes. They notably did not file bankruptcy which is why this took us all by surprise, and that means that any buyer would have to play entirely by the sellers rules here. They stand to make more money by completely killing the business. Every day these stores have a store closing sale going on the brand is degraded and chances of any successful resurrection reduce. I agree the perishables had to be a loss leader, and then the stores mismanaged them by failing to rotate and keep the coolers stocked properly so much of it probably became more shrink than sales. I also suspect they had triple net leases which are not desirable for a startup, and many California locations were very old and had deferred maintenance issues.
They’ve been planning this for months. The app hasn’t worked since last year (sans some push ads), they’ve been winding down Momentum Brands, they’ve been moving forward with using existing staff to update the floor plan but cancelled renovation plans which was basically painting the walls and putting up cheap printed “The 99” signs, etc.
I’m certain they’ve been shopping the chain… but there are no takers. I doubt anything will ever become of the PNS plan — probably just talk. That they’re avoiding bankruptcy leads me to believe they’re confident they can get rid of most all store leases and come ahead (vs paying tons of bankruptcy costs and terminating leases). Although most all locations are in nasty, dingy buildings, I’ll bet many are leased at attractive rates.
The article states that if he successfully acquires it, the stores would be closed for 90 days for re-merchandising. I suspect that a reimagined “99” would no longer carry perishables. I bet the perishables lose money but are treated as a loss leader to get people into the stores. Even just a couple years ago, you could score some huge savings … but now prices are a hair below supermarkets but the quality is lacking. Romain hearts use to be $1 whereas Albertsons & Ralph’s were charging $3.49. Now they’ve been at $2.99 at Albertsons is $3.99 (Ralph’s $4.49). The “99” product is less colorful and flavorful. I bet you can get a better price at Aldi and ethic markets.
Couples use to make 99 still a bargain at times, but their app hasn’t been functioning since late last year, sans the ads section.
Let's face it, this is a "hail Mary" desperate attempt to put together a partial buyout when there is no bankruptcy involved. These private equity folks obviously have the plan to cash out everything they can and write off all the rest as a massive loss against their taxes. They notably did not file bankruptcy which is why this took us all by surprise, and that means that any buyer would have to play entirely by the sellers rules here. They stand to make more money by completely killing the business. Every day these stores have a store closing sale going on the brand is degraded and chances of any successful resurrection reduce. I agree the perishables had to be a loss leader, and then the stores mismanaged them by failing to rotate and keep the coolers stocked properly so much of it probably became more shrink than sales. I also suspect they had triple net leases which are not desirable for a startup, and many California locations were very old and had deferred maintenance issues.
They’ve been planning this for months. The app hasn’t worked since last year (sans some push ads), they’ve been winding down Momentum Brands, they’ve been moving forward with using existing staff to update the floor plan but cancelled renovation plans which was basically painting the walls and putting up cheap printed “The 99” signs, etc.
I’m certain they’ve been shopping the chain… but there are no takers. I doubt anything will ever become of the PNS plan — probably just talk. That they’re avoiding bankruptcy leads me to believe they’re confident they can get rid of most all store leases and come ahead (vs paying tons of bankruptcy costs and terminating leases). Although most all locations are in nasty, dingy buildings, I’ll bet many are leased at attractive rates.
What is interesting is they decided a wind down was the most efficient way to proceed. What a mess.
They are liquidating a ton of inventory at very low percentages off. I have to think this inventory liquidation is throwing them massive short term cash. Also do we know if they already closed/laid off the corporate office? They supposedly just moved into a brand new corporate office in Tustin... in some new development. What a waste of money that was.
The other thing the PNS plan doesn't mention is what are they wanting to save - "The 99 Store" or "99 Cents Only Stores."
Do we know for sure that they aren't going to file bankruptcy...?
