99 Cents Only stores closing in Las Vegas Valley

Las Vegas-area 99 Cents Only stores were busy Friday morning after news broke late Thursday that the stores were set to close.

Tom Hill, a part-time employee at the location at Maryland Parkway and Charleston Boulevard, said he only learned of the closure in an email Thursday afternoon and was told the target closure date for all of the company’s 371 stores in the U.S. was June 5.

Hill said he also shops at the store every day since he has worked there and bought items like cleaners, paper goods and health products.

Sales are expected to begin on Friday, according to the closure announcement.

The closure of the 99 Cents Only stores could have an impact on people without homes in Las Vegas since these stores provide food items at attainable prices, said Richard Birmingham, who was shopping at the 99 Cents Only store at Maryland Parkway and Charleston Boulevard on Friday.

Birmingham spends a lot of time and effort on feeding homeless people in Las Vegas and has used the 99 Cents Only stores to buy food supplies to feed them and said he could make 40 sandwiches by only spending $7 at these stores. He said he isn’t sure if there will be enough food options once the stores close.

“I don’t know what the answer is,” Birmingham said.

The deep discount retailer has at least 15 stores in Las Vegas, four in Henderson, three in North Las Vegas and one in Boulder City. The company, founded in 1982, is based in Commerce, Calif. It has stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.

“This was an extremely difficult decision and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” Mike Simoncic, interim chief executive officer of 99 Cents Only Stores said in a statement. “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. We deeply appreciate the dedicated employees, customers, partners, and communities who have collectively supported 99 Cents Only Stores for decades.”

The company has entered into an agreement with Hilco Global to liquidate all merchandise and dispose of certain fixtures, furnishings, and equipment at the stores.

The 99 Cents Only stores aren’t the only dollar stores facing pressure, as Dollar Tree recently announced it was raising prices for its items up to $7 and also said in March it would close nearly 1,000 locations stores across the country.

Thordis Willis, who was shopping Friday morning at the 99 cent store near the intersection of Flamingo Road and Maryland Parkway, said she was disappointed with the closure since the stores have consistently raised prices in recent years.

“None of it is a dollar anymore,” she said.

The Flamingo and Maryland location was selling ramen packets for 79 cents, cans of beans for $1.49, mandarins for $2.99, toothpaste for $5.99 and laundry detergent for $9.99

Willis is a baker and usually goes to the 99 cent store twice a month to buy baking supplies in bulk and said the closure will impact her a “little but not a lot” since she gets most of her other groceries at other stores. Willis said she will go to other dollar stores to get her baking supplies.

Treila Morgan was buying cleaning supplies at the 99 Cents Only store at Maryland Parkway and Charleston Boulevard on Friday since those items are cheaper than at regular grocery stores. Morgan said she was shocked by the closure announcement since she goes to these stores at least once a week.

She said she can adapt but is concerned about the impact on other customers.

“I worry about families and low-income people who shop here,” Morgan said. “How are they going to get baby wipes and other overpriced items if these stores close.”

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on X. The Associated Press contributed to this report.