Obtaining financial assistance, help finding work, or enrolling in job-training programs to qualify for employment in other fields may be on the way for thousands of 99 Cents Only Store workers who are losing their jobs as a result of all 371 stores closing.
The hand-up for impacted workers formerly employed at local stores is contained in a plan adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 9 by unanimous vote.
The action calls for a report back in two months from the Department of Economic Opportunity and the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs with an assistance plan for former 99 Cents Store employees that includes help obtaining unemployment benefits, job training, job placement and other resources.
“I am worried about the thousands of 99 Cents Store workers across L.A. County who are going to lose their jobs, but L.A. County is ready to help,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who authored the motion.
The discount store is headquartered in the City of Commerce, located in Hahn’s Fourth District. About 14,000 workers across three states are expected to lose their jobs.
“While a group of investors is looking into reviving the brand, we need to act now. We want to tell workers we are here for you,” Hahn said before the vote on the motion. “We are a safety net to keep people from falling through the cracks.”
On Thursday, the Commerce-based operators of the stores announced they would shutter all 371 locations, affecting stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas. The stores began liquidation sales on Friday. Hahn said the closure would affect 60 locations in L.A. County.
“This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” interim company CEO Mike Simoncic said in a statement issued Thursday. “Unfortunately, the last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment, including the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting consumer demand, rising levels of shrink, persistent inflationary pressures and other macroeconomic headwinds, all of which have greatly hindered the company’s ability to operate.”
A former president of Big Lots and the original Pic ‘N’ Save brand told Los Angeles Magazine he is exploring an effort to save the 143 locations of 99 Cents Only Stores in Southern California.
Mark J. Miller said he has put together a group of investors, including some former 99 Cents Only Stores executives, to try to acquire the Southern California stores, close them for about 90 days after the going-out-of-business sales end and then reopen with an emphasis on the “treasure hunt” style that made the stores popular in the first place.
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City News Service contributed to this article.
