99 Cents rides sales momentum in third quarter

Continued positive sales momentum in its business and an increase in foot traffic increase at its stores fueled 99 Cents Only Stores’ third-quarter results.



The company's net sales increased 11% to $487.9 million from $439.5 million for the prior-year quarter. Same-store sales increased 3%.



"Our results were positively impacted by our efforts to improve our product costs as part of a shift toward higher margin seasonal and general merchandise," stated CEO Stephane Gonthier. "We are excited to roll out several new changes to the appearance of our stores to improve customer experience and drive sales growth. We look forward to further discussing our strategy and results on today's earnings release conference call."



During the quarter, the company opened 11 net new stores. As of the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2014, the company operated 340 stores, an increase of 10% in store count over last year.