COMMERCE CITY, Calif. — 99 Cents Only Stores, based here, yesterday said it posted a profit of $9.5 million for the first fiscal quarter, vs. a loss of $1.5 million in the year-ago period. Sales were up 8.9%, to $332.1 million, and same-store sales rose 7.2%.
"We believe that our long-term operational improvement initiatives recently gained significant traction," said Eric Eric Schiffer, chief executive officer. "We have achieved greater gains in profitability than we expected this early in our four-year profit improvement plan. We believe that these gains are sustainable."
The company also said it has decided not to exit the Texas market, as previously proposed, and has begun working on a program to turn around the stores there.
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