99 Cents Only Names Gonthier CEO

COMMERCE, Calif. — 99 Cents Only Stores here said Monday it has named Stephane Gonthier as president and chief executive officer, succeeding Rick Anicetti.

Anicetti, interim CEO, will return to his role solely as a member of the company's board. He joined the company's board in the first half of 2012 and was named interim CEO in January, when members of the company's founding Gold and Schiffer families left. Anicetti is the former president and CEO of Food Lion, Salisbury, N.C., a division of Delhaize Group, Brussels.

Read More: Anicetti Named Interim CEO at 99 Cents Only

Gonthier has been chief operating officer of Dollarama, an 800-unit Canadian dollar-store chain based in Montreal, since 2007 after serving as senior vice president, Eastern North America, overseeing 2,600 Circle K stores for Alimentation Couche-Tard, which operated the c-store chain in the U.S. from 1998 until 2007.

CONNECT WITH SN ON LINKEDIN

Join SN's LinkedIn Group to network with industry professionals.

According to David Kaplan, 99 Cents Only chairman and senior partner of Ares Management, "The growth of 99 Cents Only Stores has been outstanding for the past several quarters, and we are excited to bring on Stephane to help us capitalize on our recent accomplishments and guide the company toward long-term success as a leader in the extreme-value category."

99 Cents Only operates 326 stores, encompassing 237 in California, 42 in Texas, 30 in Arizona and 17 in Nevada. The company was acquired in January 2012 by affiliates of Los Angeles-based Ares Management, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the founding Gold/Schiffer family.