99 Cents Only Stores was born from a wine clearance that found the magic price point

In the 1960s, Dave Gold inherited a liquor store at Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles. He struggled to compete with larger retailers and experimented with pricing strategies to move inventory. One experiment became legendary: he priced slow-moving bottles of wine at a flat 99 cents, far below the normal price, to clear the stock.

The 99-cent wine sold out immediately. Gold noticed something unexpected: customers who came for the 99-cent wine bought other items at full price. The 99-cent price point was not just a clearance tactic — it was a customer magnet. Items priced at 99 cents moved faster than the same items at $1.02 or 98 cents. Gold called it a 'magic number.'

In 1982, Gold opened the first 99 Cents Only Store at 6921 La Tijera Boulevard in Inglewood, California. Every item in the store was priced at 99 cents. To celebrate the opening, he sold television sets to the first 13 families for 99 cents each, drawing a crowd of 300 people and TV news crews. The concept was an immediate success.

The chain grew to 350 stores across California, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada. In 2011, Gold sold the company to private equity for $1.6 billion. A pricing tactic meant to clear out slow wine had become one of the most recognizable retail concepts in America.