Dollar Tree Takes Over Former 99 Cents Only Locations, Including Gaffey Street in San Pedro

By Rosie Knight, columnist

Ever since it was announced that 99 Cents Only would shutter its stores across the country, shoppers have wondered what would replace the popular discount grocery store. Here in San Pedro we finally have an answer. As eagle-eyed community members might have noticed, there’s now a Dollar Tree sign hanging in the window of the Gaffey location. We’re not the only ones either as the company recently announced in a press release that Dollar Tree has purchased 170 of the locations that used to house the 99 Cents Only stores. 

“As we continue to execute on our accelerated growth strategy for the Dollar Tree brand, this was an attractive opportunity to secure leases in priority markets where we see strong profitable growth potential,” said Michael Creedon, Jr., Dollar Tree’s Chief Operating Officer. 

He continued. “The portfolio complements our existing footprint and will provide us access to high-quality real estate assets in premium retail centers, enabling us to rapidly grow the Dollar Tree brand across the western United States, reaching even more customers and communities.”

This is an interesting development as San Pedro already has both a Dollar Tree and a Family Dollar (owned by the Dollar Tree corporation), so it’s currently unclear whether those stores will remain in business alongside the new location. Another notable thing about the 99 Cents Only location that Dollar Tree is taking over is that it’s almost double the size of an average Dollar Tree, with a much larger square footage and ample refrigeration for fresh produce. Of course, it’s yet to be seen whether Dollar Tree will replicate that part of the 99 Cents Only business when they’re better known for selling processed foods, candy, and dry products. 

When you visit the Dollar Tree website, food is the last category on their site menu. It’s clearly not a huge focus when you visit the stores themselves, which are often more than half seasonal items, toys, crafts, health and wellness, and many, many tchotchkes. On the site they don’t have any listings for fresh produce, and the food they do list is only a small segment of what a grocery store would carry. The categories are Breakfast & Cereal, Baking Mixes & Supplies, Spices, Condiments, Canned Goods, Packaged Dinners, Grains, & Pasta, and International Foods. 

It’s not just the Gaffey Street 99 Cents Only store that will be turning into a Dollar Tree. Thanks to a Linkedin post from “Retail Specialist” Bill Read, we know that the company also acquired leases for other stores in the Harbor Area. Both Long Beach 99 Cents Only stores (on Willow and Carson) will become Dollar Tree locations, as will the Harbor City store on Sepulveda and the Torrance location on W 182nd Street. Interestingly, Read’s list doesn’t include our Gaffey location, but we know thanks to new signage that it too will become a Dollar Tree in the near future. That also means that this list is likely not comprehensive and we could learn of more local openings soon. 

Another vital part of the puzzle is the current fight to stop Albertsons and Kroger from merging and creating yet another corporate monopoly. Our local UFCW 770 has played a large part in organizing, as part of Stop the Merger, to try and highlight the dangers of the two corporations becoming one. Recently it was announced that if the merger goes through the companies will divest in certain locations, selling them off. This includes the Vons on 25th Street, removing yet another grocery store from San Pedro. 

As part of a press conference, Local 770 responded. “History shows we can’t take merger promises at face value,” said Jessica Crowley, UFCW Local 770 member and pharmacist at Albertsons-owned Pavilions in Los Angeles, California. “When Albertsons acquired Safeway in 2015 and divested about 150 stores to Haggen, many grocery stores shut down, leaving thousands jobless for months. Let’s be clear: this mega-merger will negatively impact retail workers, smaller suppliers, independent chains, and communities already facing challenges with food and medication access. C&S Wholesale Grocers’ limited experience in retail pharmacy makes the divestiture plan highly unlikely to succeed.”