<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Los Angeles, CA</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">4.30.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/david_gold_in_memoriam_BODY_01.jpg" alt="Cropped Images April 30th 2013" />Founder of the 99 Cents Only Stores, Dave Gold, has passed away at the age of 80.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Gold died Monday of an apparent heart attack at his Los Angeles home, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Gold opened the first store in 1982 at 50. He told the Times in 2003 that while working at his father's liquor store, he discovered that items he discounted to, say, 98 cents or $1.02 never sold out but a 99-cent label was magic.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"When I put a 99-cent sign on anything, it was gone in no time," he said. "I thought, wouldn't it be fun to have a store where everything was good quality and everything was 99 cents?"<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Gold gave the dollar-store concept a fresh spin by making the stores bigger, brighter and better organized. His stores eventually spread to middle-class and even upscale neighborhoods in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Gold is survived by his wife, children, and five grandchildren.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
