The 99 Cents Only Store on Winchester Road is one of the more than 370 stores closing nationwide. Valley News/Kim Harris photo
Citing inflation, theft and other “financial difficulties,” 99 Cents Only Stores announced the closure of its stores nationwide last week.
A liquidation sale of all the 99 Cents Only stores began April 5, with thousands of employees expected to lose their jobs.
The company said it will wind down business operations at all 371 stores across Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and California, including its Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore and Hemet.
“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 Friday, April 5.
Simoncic said that the last several years had presented “significant and lasting challenges” in the retail environment. He said the “un
