According to the store manager at a local 99 Cents Only Store I interviewed, you would be surprised at the kinds of people who shop at 99 cent stores. Saul told me: We attract customers from across the economic and social spectrum. Question: Why there is a market for the products? I think everyone is interested in finding a bargain. We offer bargains. We survive as a chain because we buy in bulk and sell in bulk. Question: How does this chain make a profit selling products for 99 cents? We buy in bulk. We buy at a discount. We pay cash to suppliers to get even bigger discounts. Once we own it, we sell it. This is a volume business. We don't have merchandise, change that, we don't want merchandise sitting on the shelves gathering dust. Our goal is to turn the inventory into cash as quickly as we can and that is part of the reason our company's financial statements are rock solid. We're the Southwest airlines of retailing. We do what other retailers wish they could figure out how to do and how to get away with it.
Question: What is the most commonly asked question? That's easy: "How much is this?" There are a few closeout items in the store that cost more than 99 cents, but those items are clearly marked. We do our best to make sure that the items that are more than 99 cents are separated from the rest of our inventory and clearly marked. Unfortunately, every day there is at least one disagreement at the cash register with a customer who argues that we cannot charge more than 99 cents - no matter what price is marked. Question: How do you handle these situations? As the store manager, I usually don't. This happens often enough that the people at the cash register have gotten good at telling customers the way it is. The customer has a choice; she or he can pay the marked price or they can go home without the product. We don't make special deals at the register or offer discounts to keep customers happy, and ...