TOANO, VA - Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) said severe weather conditions throughout much of the nation during the first three months negatively impacted sales at 40 percent of its retail locations yet overall sales increased by 6.9 percent to $246.3 million.

Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Lumber Liquidators, said he is confident that most of the business lost at 135 of the 331 stores to bad weather will be re-cooped in the second and third quarters.

"Like so many, our team was frustrated by the severity, scale and duration of the harsh winter and the adverse impact it had on our net sales," Lynch said. "Our customers generally follow a long purchase cycle, which we believe was either interrupted or completely suspended due to the unusually severe winter weather. However, as conditions generally became more seasonal in mid-March, customer demand increased."

Lumber Liquidator's, which earlier announced $60 million expansion plans, including for a new flooring finishing plant, said it anticipates 2014 sales will range between $1.15 billion and $1.20 billion. Additional plans call for adding up to 40 new store locations and remodeling up to 30 existing stores to have larger showrooms.

Lumber Liquidators is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In addition to hardwood flooring, the company offers engineered hardwood, bamboo, cork, laminate and resilient vinyl floors.

Lumber Liquidators has been hit with lawsuits related to a raid by federal agents last September tied to the company's importation of flooring made with allegedly illegally harvested Siberian lumber, a violation of the U.S. Lacey Act.