Witt Envis

Eric Schiffer is the current CEO of the 99 Cents Only Stores. Typically, 99 Cents is considered as the only retail store that has been able to maintain its level of customers even from the onset of the economic crisis of 2008 to the present. This is considered as quite a feat as the larger and more expensive stores are those that have been hard hit in the market. Generally, the target markets by which the stores are often working with are those that belong to the middle and low-income communities. In addition, the most basic commodities that it handles are those that belong to the food and beverage industries.

Eric Schiffer has been with the business since the 1990s. He was considered as sort of an outsider as his major training is based on electrical engineering. However, he was brought to the business in the 90s when his father-in-law brought him to a board meeting of the company. At that time, the company belonged to the Gold Family, and Schiffer was married to the daughter of Gold. After the initial phase of his introduction to the business, he discussed with his wife that there was actually no need for the business to draw in more investors as they have the capacity to go into an IPO in just a few years.

Today, Eric Schiffer is the CEO of the company. While he was certainly at the bottom of the hierarchy in several managerial positions in the past, he rose to the occasion and he was able to land the position of CEO in 2005. While he may have had no background in the retail industry, he was considered to be an asset as his ideas of an IPO was used to ensure that the company would be able to rise further and expand to other markets and horizons.

Before he went into the business of the 99 Cents Only Stores, Eric Schiffer was an employee of the Oxford Partners, which was a venture capital market. This was considered as an asset of the business. Schiffer is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Duke University, and it was from Harvard University where he was able to get his MBA Degree in Business School. Typically, he is now considered as one of the owners of the company, not only because of his association with Gold’s daughter but also because of his leadership role in the company.