Back to search
đź”´ PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
99 Cents Only Stores
discount · Commerce, CA
PE Firm
Ares Management
Year Acquired
2012
“A $1.6 billion buyout of a dollar store. Twelve years later: 371 stores dark, 14,000 jobs gone.”
The PE Playbook
- •Ares Management and CPPIB bought 99 Cents Only for $1.6B in 2012; by 2024 the company was insolvent and announced total liquidation
- •All 371 stores permanently closed beginning April 5, 2024; 14,000 employees laid off
- •Owners extracted $20M in annual cash dividends even as the company struggled with debt it couldn't service
- •Dollar Tree scooped up leases for 170 former locations — PE's loss became competitors' gain
Since the Acquisition
- ▸Filed for bankruptcy in April 2024 and liquidated ALL 371 stores across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas — the entire chain gone
- â–¸14,000 employees laid off with no severance pay
- ▸Items priced at 99 cents or less dropped from 65% of merchandise in 2020 to below 50% by 2023 — a dollar store where most things cost more than a dollar
- â–¸Customers lost access to a beloved discount retailer in hundreds of low-income communities