99 Cents Store in Downtown El Paso shutting down: How it will affect nearby residents
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The California-based 99 Cents Only discount stores will be shutting down across the country, including the one located in Downtown El Paso right next to the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry.
The company sent out an announcement on Thursday, April 4, notifying the start of an “orderly wind-down” of their operations, and the launch of closure sales beginning on Friday, April 5.
Fueling concerns that Downtown El Paso meets the criteria of a food desert, the news of the store’s closure came as a shock and surprise for shoppers at the 99 Store in El Paso on Friday, especially for El Pasoans who live nearby the store and Juarez residents who frequent the port of entry.
“It will greatly impact us if they close this store. It’s the only affordable and accessible store of its kind in the area. They closed the Dollar Tree store nearby and now this one too? Many of us lack transportation to get to other stores like Walmart, and this store is just so much more affordable,” said Marta Hidalgo, who lives in the Segundo Barrio neighborhood nearby.
“We come here to buy groceries, food, and other things for our home. It is going to affect us a lot because we’re far from other stores. Our only option will be to find another store. It’s not going to be the same,” said Jaime Lopez, who lives just a few blocks away from the store.
“There’s not a lot of stores like that here in Downtown (El Paso),” said Irma Cruz Zepeda, who lives in Ciudad Juarez but frequents the store. “I own a stationery store, and I shop here for my supplies at affordable prices. By closing down this store, there won’t be another one like it.”
The company’s announcement included a quote from their Interim Chief Executive Officer Mike Simoncic, who cited multiple reasons for the closures.
“Unfortunately, the last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment, including the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting consumer demand, rising levels of shrink, persistent inflationary pressures and other macroeconomic headwinds, all of which have greatly hindered the Company’s ability to operate,” said Simoncic.
The 99 Cents Store has been operating where the local staple Silva’s Supermarket once stood for over a century. Not even five years removed from that transition, the future of this longstanding building is once again uncertain.
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