LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dave Gold, the founder of the 99 Cents Only Stores more than three decades ago who saw it expand into a billion-dollar empire, has died. He was 80.
Gold died Monday of an apparent heart attack at his Los Angeles home, his son, Jeff Gold, told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Saturday.
Gold was 50 when he opened the first store in 1982. He told the Times in 2003 that while working at his father's liquor store, he discovered that items he discounted to, say, 98 cents or $1.02 never sold out but a 99-cent label was magic.
"When I put a 99-cent sign on anything, it was gone in no time," he said. "I thought, wouldn't it be fun to have a store where everything was good quality and everything was 99 cents?"