He Made His Money 99 Cents at a Time.

David (Dave) Gold the founder of "99 Cents Only" stores has died at the age of 80. Dave Gold had a heart attack at his Mid-Whilsire district home in Los Angeles. Gold got the idea for the 99 cent stores while running a liquor store. "When I put a .99 cent sign on anything, it was gone in no time. I realized it was a magic number. He opened his .99 Cents Only stores in 1982. The chain now has over 300 stores. A friend suggested that he open a store that all the merchandise was priced at .99cents. To create publicity for the store's opening he sold televisions for .99 cents and had members of his family call local television stations to ask what all the commotion was at the store. His publicity ploy was a coup! To this day the first 9 customers of the day get anything they buy for .99 cents as in 2008 prices did go up and are advertised as .99from to $99.99. Long known for Gold's sense of humor the business advertises it self as being opened 9 days a week. They celebrated 99th birthdays of celebrities and once congratulated Joan Rivers on her 99th face lift.
Dave Gold and his wife Shelly of 55 years still lived in their middle class home of 50 years. Along with Dave, Shelly and their three children have all worked at the stores. The company was sold and the Golds no longer have anything do to with the company as of January of 2013.
Dave Gold created a billion dollar empire .99 cents at a time.