LL Flooring, a specialty retailer of hard-surface flooring in North America, announced first-quarter 2021 net sales rose 6% to  $283.5 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2021.

The company said it opened three new stores and closed one store, bringing total store count to 412 as of March 31, 2021. Comparable store sales for the first quarter increased 6.9% from the first quarter of 2020. 

"During the first quarter, we delivered positive 6.9% comparable sales and increased our operating income from the first quarter of 2020, driven by continued execution on our transformation initiatives, strong demand for home improvement projects and accelerating year-over-year growth in our installation business," said President and Chief Executive Officer Charles Tyson.

"We are intently focused on executing our strategies to drive sales and profitability in 2021.  With more than 400 varieties of hard-surface floors featuring a range of quality styles and on-trend designs, we offer our customers quality choices and provide high-touch service and advice to help them achieve their flooring project needs.  We will continue to pursue gross margin rate mitigation strategies and disciplined expense management to optimize profitability, and our strong balance sheet and liquidity support the investment in our strategies to position LL Flooring as the customer's first choice in hard surface flooring over the long term."

For more information, visit llflooring.com.