99 Cents Only quarterly comps up 2.7%

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. — 99 Cents Only Stores reported total sales of $346.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 ended June 26. This represents an increase of 4.3% over total sales of $332.1 million for the same quarter last year.

The company said overall same-store sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 increased 2.7%, with the number of same-store sales transactions increasing 2.3% and the average transaction size increasing to $9.60 from $9.56.

Eric Schiffer, CEO of 99 Cents Only Stores, stated, “In the first quarter, we are pleased to report that we achieved 2.7% same-store sales growth, which was in line with our expectations. Based on our high average volume per store, this represents a healthy increase in average annualized sales of approximately $127,000 per store. Additionally, we are pleased with the strong same-store sales for our Texas stores, which continue to outperform our average same-store sales growth rate.”