The Impact of 99 Cents Only Store Closures; a Shady Voting Tactic by Democratic Lawmakers-Coachella Valley Independent's Indy Digest: April 11, 2024 - Coachella Valley Independent (2024)

Indy Digest: April 11, 2024

Barring a reprieve (which, while not likely, is at least possible), all 99 Cents Only stores—including the seven Coachella Valley and high desert locations—will soon be no more.

The Los Angeles Times explained why the 371-store chain is closing:

Company executives and industry analysts blamed a series of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating theft and crime, competition, big increases in operating costs stemming from high inflation and the expense of servicing its debt. The company also cited significant minimum-wage jumps, particularly in California, where 265 of its stores are located.

“The last several years have been extremely difficult,” Chief Restructuring Officer Christopher J. Wells said in a bankruptcy declaration filed Monday. “The company had no choice but to pass on to its customers some of the resulting costs, in the form of higher prices, which was met by significant customer resistance and reduced customer traffic.” …

The privately held company, which has 10,874 employees, recorded operating losses of $30.8 million in 2022 and nearly $60 million in the first three quarters of 2023.

Some people may shrug and dismiss these closures as no big deal—saying something to the effect of, “They’re only dollar stores, right?” But I actually think this story may be getting underplayed, because these closures will have real negative effects on a lot of people. Of course, nearly 11,000 employees will no longer have jobs at these stores—but the harm goes well beyond them.

Los Angeles Times columnist (and friend of the Independent) Gustavo Arellano talked to customers at the Santa Ana 99 Cents Only store, including a 38-year-old delivery driver named Victor Barrios. “This needs to stay open,” Barrios told Gustavo. “I make OK money, and buying here helps me. But imagine if you’re on WIC? If you’re on Social Security? You need a place like this. Are people now supposed to go to Ralphs? Or Target? With what money?”

Gustavo writes: “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.”

Some of my friends have taken to social media to express sadness about the closure of these stores. One wrote: “That store is half the reason I can afford to entertain so often. The best selection of affordable same day fruit and veg around!”

I can relate. While I’ve been an infrequent shopper at 99 Cents Only, I will tell you that the local opening of another discount grocer, Aldi, in 2016, was literally life-changing for me.

It opened at a time when my financial situation was, to put it mildly, bleak. The Independent was just approaching break-even after three money-losing years; my savings account was empty; and I was bringing in little to no income. The hubby had just moved to San Francisco for work—meaning we had two rental payments, as well as other added expenses. We were one year into a five-year Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan—and not long after all of this, our family took in a friend who was unemployed after a health crisis, and he stayed with us for the better part of a year.

More than once, I went grocery shopping with a strict budget; I had to keep a running total in my head as I placed items in the cart so I didn’t go over. I remember one trip to Aldi when I had a $25 budget—and that needed to get us by for 10 days, until my husband’s next paycheck arrived. The fact that I was able to get more food at Aldi, with every one of those 25 dollars, than I could at other grocery stores, tangibly improved my family’s lives.

Discount grocery stores make lives better—and that means the closure of 99 Cents Only’s locations will hurt a whole lot of people.

—Jimmy Boegle

From the Independent

11 Days a Week: April 11-21, 2024

By Staff

April 10th, 2024

Coming up in the next 11 days: some 4/20-themed comedy; The 25th Annual Putnam Country Spelling Bee; and more!

More News

• Here’s yet more proven science for the anti-vaxxers to ignore. NBC News says: “There is no evidence that mRNA Covid vaccines cause fatal cardiac arrest or other deadly heart problems in teens and young adults, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Thursday shows. Ever since the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were authorized in late 2020, anti-vaccination groups in the U.S. have blamed the shots for fatal heart problems in young athletes. One of the most notorious examples of vaccine misinformation involves Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin, 26, who in 2023 collapsed on ‘Monday Night Football’ as a result of cardiac arrest. Hamlin was resuscitated on the field and eventually recovered. He returned to play for the Bills last season. ‘When Damar Hamlin went down, immediately comments were getting made that it was possibly vaccine-related,’ said study co-author Dr. Paul Cieslak, the medical director of communicable diseases and immunizations at Oregon Health Authority’s public health division. ‘This is kind of what we were trying to address with this analysis.’”

• Our partners at Calmatters look at a shady practice legislative Democrats are engaging in—something they’re able to do thanks to their supermajority: “Mike Fong has cast more than 6,000 votes since he joined the state Assembly in 2022 and never once voted ‘no.’ Pilar Schiavo is newer to the Assembly, but she has yet to vote ‘no’ after more than 2,000 opportunities. Remarkably, their Democratic colleagues in the Legislature are not much different. Using our new Digital Democracy database, CalMatters examined more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators since 2017 and found Democrats vote ‘no’ on average less than 1% of the time. … Instead of voting ‘no,’ the data, video and transcripts in CalMatters’ Digital Democracy project reveals that legislators will often decline to cast a vote. Lawmakers widely use the tactic as a courtesy to avoid irking fellow legislators who’d get upset if they vote ‘no’ on their bills, but it’s a controversial practice that critics say allows them to avoid accountability. … Last year, at least 15 bills died due to lack of votes instead of lawmakers actually voting ‘no’ to kill them. The most notorious example was when a bill to increase penalties for child sex trafficking died in the Assembly Public Safety Committee because Democrats did not vote. After widespread condemnation, Gov. Gavin Newsom got involved, prompting some committee Democrats to apologize and re-vote on the measure that Newsom later signed.”

• The EPA has issued new rules in an attempt to decrease the amount of hazardous pollution that factories are allowed to emit. CNN reports: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new rules on Tuesday to protect neighborhoods near more than 200 manufacturing facilities that release airborne toxins such as ethylene oxide, chloroprene, benzene, vinyl chloride, 1,3 butadiene and ethylene dichloride. According to EPA studies, about 104,000 Americans live within 6 miles of factories that churn out certain synthetic organic chemicals or use them in the production of polymers and resins. Their risk of cancer from that exposure is above 1 in 10,000 people—a threshold the agency deems to be unacceptably high. Other EPA studies have shown that people living near industrial chemical producers are disproportionately poor and more likely to be Black or brown compared with the general population. The new rule cuts the amounts of hazardous pollutants these factories would be allowed to release by about 6,200 pounds and substantially reduces the cancer risks from hazardous airborne pollutants. ‘This rule alone will reduce the cancer risk for people living in these communities by 96%,’ EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a news briefing.”

• In more local news: The Palm Springs Surf Club’s wave pool has reopened. The Inertia, a “surf and outdoors” news publication, reports: “The Palm Springs Surf Club has had a rough year. Since an unexplained closure rendered the wave pool non-operational mere weeks after opening, it’s been mostly crickets from the facility. However, a new announcement from PSSC says the pool is back and open for business. … On Wednesday evening, PSSC sent out an email to its mailing list that announced it was, once again, open for business. Upon checking the website, the booking system appears to indeed be operational. ‘We’re stoked to finally share that the wait is over!’ read the announcement.” The re-opening of the wave pool comes just in time for the Coachella-related Goldenvoice Surf Club, happening the next two weekends at the Palm Springs Surf Club; you can read all about that in Matt King’s story for the Independent.

• Today’s recall news involves … Fords! The Associated Press says: “Ford is recalling nearly 43,000 small SUVs because gasoline can leak from the fuel injectors onto hot engine surfaces, increasing the risk of fires. But the recall remedy does not include repairing the fuel leaks. The recall covers certain Bronco Sport SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years, as well as Escape SUVs from 2022. All have 1.5-liter engines. Ford says in documents filed with U.S. safety regulators that fuel injectors can crack, and gasoline or vapor can accumulate near ignition sources, possibly touching off fires. Dealers will install a tube to let gasoline flow away from hot surfaces to the ground below the vehicle. They’ll also update engine control software to detect a pressure drop in the fuel injection system. If that happens, the software will disable the high pressure fuel pump, reduce engine power and cut temperatures in the engine compartment, according to documents posted Wednesday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.”

• When it comes to basketball TV ratings, the women reign supreme. The Hollywood Reporter says: “The audience for the NCAA men’s basketball championship ticked up from last year’s low—but for the first time, the men’s game drew a smaller TV crowd than the women’s final. Connecticut’s 75-60 victory over Purdue on Monday—a result that was not in doubt for most of the second half—averaged 14.82 million viewers across TBS, TNT and TruTV. That’s a smidge better than the 14.69 million who watched UConn win the title last year on CBS, which is the lowest on record. … Sunday’s women’s championship game between South Carolina and Iowa brought in 18.87 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, a record for women’s basketball in the United States and the most watched hoops contest of any kind in five years. The women’s final boasted a 90 percent increase over the 9.92 million who tuned in for the 2023 game.”

• And finally … a story that sounds similar to the plots of various TV shows and movies played out on a small island in the Pacific Ocean last week. CNN says: “A U.S. Navy and Coast Guard operation on Tuesday rescued three mariners stranded on a tiny Pacific Ocean islet for more than a week after the trio spelled out ‘HELP’ using palm fronds laid on a white-sand beach. … The three men had been planning to fish the waters around the Pikelot Atoll, part of Micronesia, on March 31 when their 20-foot open skiff was caught by swells and its outboard motor was damaged, according to US Coast Guard officials. They scrambled ashore on uninhabited Pikelot, but their radio ran out of battery power before they could call for help. So the castaways gathered palm fronds from the 31-acre island, arranged them to spell out ‘HELP’ on the beach, and waited, according to a Coast Guard statement. … For a week, the men lived off coconut meat, but they did have fresh water from a small well on the island, which is sometimes visited by fishers in the region, Coast Guard officials said.”

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