COMMERCE CITY, Calif. — 99 Cents Only Stores LLC commenced going-out-of-business sales and said it would close all 371 of its stores, ending the chain’s 42-year run as a deep-discount retailer.

The company, which has stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas, acknowledged struggles to recover from the pandemic, overcome macroeconomic headwinds and cope with increasing levels of shrink.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, and is not the outcome we expected or hoped to achieve,” Mike Simoncic, the company’s interim chief executive officer, said early this month in announcing the decision. “Unfortunately, the last several years have presented significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment.”

The company has appointed Chris Wells, managing director at management consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, to serve as its chief restructuring officer.

99 Cents Only Stores was founded by Dave Gold, who opened its first store in Los Angeles in 1982. Gold, who had been working at a liquor store owned by his father, found that surplus merchandise marked down to 99 cents sold out “in no time.”

The decision to go out of business came after an extensive analysis of all available and credible alternatives to identify a solution that would allow the business to continue, the company said.