HOUSTON — After nearly four decades in business, 99 Cents Only stores are closing. Frozen food, dairy and deli are just some of the items people can find at the 99 Cents Only store.
“Vengo a comprar huevos los huevos lo tienen buen precio aqui y muchas cosas los platos de papel tiene buen precio,” Victor Alvarado said.
Alvarado shops at the 99 Cents Only store in the Greenspoint area often. He said he’s on disability and the prices for him here are affordable. All of the items he bought when he went shopping Wednesday came out to around $32. Now that the store is closing for good, he has to find another affordable place to shop.
“Muchos productos que en otras tiendas pues estan más costosas me cuestan mas dinero,” Alvarado said.
It’s not just accessibility to affordable food that people are losing.
“We bring our guys out at least once a week,” Julie Garcia said.
Garcia is the director of Journey Together Activity Center, which is a day habilitation facility for people with special needs. This store has been a vital part of their routine.
“We teach them social skills, life skills, and how to interact with each other,” Garcia said. “We create a list before we come out, so they know what they're going to buy, and then everybody picks it up, and then they all pay individually.”
The 99 Cents Only store in Greenpoint is only a few minutes away from their center, which makes it convenient.
“We’re kind of heartbroken because we came here once a week and our guys really enjoy and look forward to the outing,” Garcia said.
The company said this was a difficult decision and not the outcome they expected, but the pandemic and other economic factors left them no choice.