More than just a store, 99 Cents Only gave a fair shake to all who entered

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Gustavo Arellano April 9, 2024

At 8:30 on Sunday morning, the parking lot at the 99 Cent

s

Only store in Santa Ana was already beginning to fill. A few days earlier, the chain had announced it was closing all 371 of its stores in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas.

This location off Main Street had seen better days. Unhoused people wandered

around

near the trash bins. The walls and walkway leading to the front door were grimy. A massive window decal of fresh fruit near the entrance was peeling.

No one smiled while grabbing a shopping cart and walking in, even though all items were 10% off and signs screamed Everything Must Go! Up to 30% Off. Customers expressed their condolences to anyone with a name tag and vented to anyone who would listen.

I blame

[Gavin]

Newsom, said Rick Juarez, 53, referencing the California governor as he entered the store to stock up on batteries. He had shopped at this location for at least 20 years. Too many taxes, too high the minimum wage. These companies just cant compete, and so they have to close. And its poor people like us who end up suffering.

Victor Barrios said he hopes the rumors of investors wanting to save the 99 Cent

s

Only empire were true.

This needs to stay open, the 38-year-old delivery driver said. I make OK money, and buying here helps me. But imagine if youre on WIC? If youre on Social Security? You need a place like this. Are people now supposed to go to

Ralphs

? Or Target? With what money?

I can count on my hands the number of times I had previously shopped at 99 Cent

s

Only, and maybe even on one hand I’m more of a swap meet kind of guy. Ive only gone with my wife, only to this location. But I had to visit out of respect and sadness.

The 99 Cent

s

Only Stores’ demise is another blow for the thrifters who make Southern California tick.

For generations, millions of us  immigrants, long-timers, working

–

class folks, or people who just want a good deal have fueled an alternate economy far removed from fancy department and grocery stores. We patronize swap meets, Salvation Army stores, half-off warehouses and garage sales. Food comes from bartering with neighbors, or outlets like 99 Cent

s

Only. My people inspired Carey McWilliams to half-jokingly call Los Angeles the junkyard for a continent in his 1946 masterpiece, Southern California: An Island on the Land. 

Even today, as I make a good living and my wife runs her own restaurant, we live a penny-pinching life. A grocery splurge for us isnt Whole Foods or Erewhon; its Trader Joes. I get my shirts and khakis at

Marshalls

or Ross Dress

f

or Less, and guayaberas at the Anaheim Indoor Swap Meet or Olvera Street. The last time I spent more than $100 on an item of clothing was a black suit from

Nordstrom

for my mothers funeral. 

Those of us in this fellowship of frugality seek out bargains because we know that Californias booms inevitably end in bust. Thats what makes the imminent end of the 99 Cent

s

Only empire which started in Westchester in 1982 so distressing.

Interim Chief Executive Mike Simoncic said in a statement that the chain was closing because of significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment.”

Even though it was a multibillion-dollar company, 99

Cents

Only operated under a premise straight from the Great Depression: a fair shake for everyone who entered. Here, the retiree shopped alongside the hipster, and the only colors that mattered were the bright blue and pink on the marquee of each store. The chain had locations in blue-collar towns

such as

Santa Ana and Colton

,

but also suburbs such as Alhambra and Santa Monica.

Yes, off-brands and remaindered products made up the bulk of offerings, but treasures awaited for those who regularly came. One day, you’d get a generic brand of

s

riracha, another time, regular Tapato hot sauce at prices you last saw during your childhood. And who knew when you might encounter a small blowup doll of AC/DC frontman Angus Young, like I did on Sunday?

There was a camaraderie among fans that rivals

such as

Dollar Tree or Dollar General or even

Walmart

were never able to match. Founder Dave Gold was a SoCal business iconoclast on the level of In-N-Out founder Harry Snyder and cafeteria magnate Clifford Clifton, who made sure that the least among us could eat and shop like kings.

Nowadays, discount shopping is just an Amazon click away a race to the bottom of inferior products and loneliness.

I could buy toys for my younger kids, my older kids could get pens for school, and I could do groceries for all of us, Altagracia Nuez told me in Spanish as she perused the beauty aisle, where sticks of mens and womens deodorant looked like tumbled dominoes. And the prices, of course. 

She stayed quiet, then offered a weak laugh. Well, everything is more expensive nowadays, so I guess this had to end.

Friends told me that their local 99

Cents

Only stores were beginning to look as bereft as the pandemic days. But the Santa Ana branch I visited was well stocked. It was interesting to see what was available and what wasn’t.

The shelves that once held reusable containers were empty, but the Easter decorations hadnt moved. There were no more bleach bottles by LAs Totally Awesome, but the rest of the brand’s cleaning products were available. Milk was sold out, but stacks of bland El Comal corn and flour tortillas already marked 50% off were barely touched.

Everyones shopping cart seemed fuller than usual, and they all seemed to have at least one package of both toilet paper and cleaning towels. I didnt need either, or anything, really. So I bought an array of canned goods from a bygone era Hormel canned tamales, Armour potted meat, Libbys chicken Vienna sausages and pork luncheon meat, whatever on

E

arth that is to

celebrate mark

the end of another Southern California classic.

The Frito-Lay and Takis displays near the checkout counter were picked clean, as was the Pepsi cooler. Cheery new jack swing tunes played on invisible speakers. Behind me, a man softly sang to himself

Se va, se va la 99

(

“Its

going, the 99 is

going”

). In front of me, a woman announced in Spanish to no one in particular, I think Ill come back here another time.

We close June 3, the cashier responded. Come back.

He let a beat pass. Come here until were done.