BENTONVILLE, Ark. — America's Car-Mart recently expanded its network of dealerships for the second time in the past two months, raising its total to 99.

The newest store to come on board is in Farmington, Mo. Back in June, Car-Mart rolled out a new rooftop in Clarksville, Tenn.

President and chief executive officer William "Hank" Henderson described how the opening of this Farmington facility fits into Car-Mart's overall growth strategy.

"The Farmington dealership will be our 13th dealership in Missouri, a state where Car-Mart has had a successful presence since 1993, when we opened our Joplin location," Henderson explained.

"This dealership represents the company's second new store to open in fiscal 2011. We expect to open between six and eight additional dealerships during the remainder of this fiscal year, and then to open additional dealerships at an approximate 10-percent annual rate thereafter," he continued.

Henderson went on to emphasize how a growing dealership network keeps Car-Mart on track toward its objectives.

"We are committed to expanding our footprint to serve a growing customer base in need of affordable transportation and excellent Car-Mart service to go with it," Henderson stated.

"Helping people succeed with their automobile purchases is what we have been doing for almost 30 years, and we are excited to be able to expand into Farmington," he added.

Jeff Williams, Car-Mart's chief financial officer, reiterated the company's positive financial standing in relation to its facility growth.

"We continue to focus on increasing sales volumes at our existing stores and at the same time adding great new locations," Williams point out.

"Fiscal-year 2010, which ended on April 30, was the best year in the company's history. We had record earnings of $2.27 per diluted share and saw top line revenue growth of over 13 percent with same store revenue increasing by over 11 percent," he also noted.

"Our solid financial results, strong balance sheet and competitive strengths will continue to allow us to provide the best possible service to our almost 48,000 active customers and to future customers we will gain as we grow," Williams stressed.

Car-Mart mentioned that it plans to announce its first-quarter results for the current fiscal year later this month.