Dave Gold (June 5, 1932 – April 22, 2013) was an American businessman who established the 99 Cents Only chain of discount stores.

Early life

Gold was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, to

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

immigrants who operated a general store. His family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1945. Gold graduated from

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

and began studies at Los Angeles City College, but dropped out to run his family's liquor store after his father had a heart attack.

Career

Gold opened the first 99 Cents Only store in 1982. At the time, the dollar store concept was considered a retail graveyard for expired or broken products. Gold made his store bright and well organized and cultivated relationships with vendors, sometimes plying them with bagels and cream cheese. Gold died in his home in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles from an apparent heart attack.

References

1932 births 2013 deaths American people of Russian-Jewish descent Retail company founders American company founders American businesspeople in retailing Businesspeople from Los Angeles Businesspeople from Cleveland 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1930s-stub