CITY OF COMMERCE, CA – 99 Cents Only Stores’ Chief Executive is hoping that his newly elected senior executive team will be the key in returning the business back to profitable growth after reports of an unsatisfactory quarter surfaced this week.

Geoffrey Covert, President and CEO, said that the team is urgently working to address the challenges the company faces, as well as looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead. Such measures include improving the customer experience, reducing shrink and scrap, enhancing inventory management practices, and getting the right products to the right stores at the right time.

“With a new senior executive team now in place, we are aggressively identifying the issues that have led to our disappointing results in recent quarters,” Covert said in a press release. “I see great possibilities for 99 Cents Only Stores and look forward to building on the foundational strengths of our business while providing the direction and discipline to return the organization to profitable growth.”

In this year alone, the company appointed a handful of retail veterans to its senior executive team, including Covert himself. Covert, Kroger’s former Senior Vice President, joined 99 Cents Only Stores in September 2015 to succeed interim CEO Andrew Giancamilli. Earlier, in July 2015, Walmart’s Jack Sinclair joined as the new Chief Merchandising Officer. And most recently, in November 2015, Felicia Thornton, the former Co-CEO, President, and Chief Operating Officer of Demoulas, joined as the new CFO and Treasurer.

For the period ended October 30, 99 Cents Only Stores reported that its net sales increased 2.8% to $491.5 million compared to $478.3 million in the prior year. Same-store sales decreased by 3.9%, primarily driven by challenges in produce and consumables sales, cannibalization impact of recent new store openings, as well as ongoing initiatives to clear excess seasonal inventory, the company said.

As of the end of the third quarter of 2016, 99 Cents Only Stores operated 389 stores, an increase of 7.5% in store count compared to the same period last year. No new stores were opened for this period.

Other highlights for the company’s Q3 2016 include:

• Adjusted EBITDA was $5.1 million compared to $27.1 million in prior year
• Net loss was $152.6 million compared to $3.8 million in prior year
• For the first three quarters ended October 30, 2015, net sales were reported at $1.49 billion compared to $1.41 billion during the same period last year, a 5.1% increase

Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to report on 99 Cents Only Stores’ financial performance in Q4 2016 and beyond.

99 Cents Only Stores