99p Stores

99p Stores Ltd is a family run business founded in January 2001 by entrepreneur Nadir Lalani, who opened the first store in the chain in Holloway, London, with a further three stores opening later that year. In 2002, Lalani decided to expand the business throughout the UK and has rapidly developed 99p Stores, operating a total of 129 stores as of March 2010 and serving around 1.5 million customers each week, undercutting their main rival Poundland by a penny. As of mid-2009 the company offered more than 3,500 different product lines throughout its stores.

Most of their stores are based in the south of the UK, although there are stores as far north as Liverpool and Hartlepool. The chain saw accelerated store expansion upon the collapse of Woolworths Group, where they took the opportunity to acquire 15 of these former stores, increasing their estate to 79 at that time. Landlords are now regarding 99p Stores as an anchor tenant due to the significant number of customers one of their stores can bring to a location.

Although the retailer made a pre-tax loss of £1.14 million in the year to 31 January 2007, they claim that, since then, consumers have become more cautious with their money and where they spend it, in response to the current economic conditions. The retailer has noticed an increase of customers from the wealthier AB social grade (a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom) during the recession. Customers tend to speak positively about 99p Stores, with most reviewers noting customer and product overcrowding as their biggest criticisms, yet still rate the chain 4.5/5 on average.