Ross Stores opens 51 stores, hits 2023 growth target

Ross Stores has been busy this fall.

The off-price apparel and home goods retailer opened 43 Ross Dress for Less (Ross) stores and eight DD’s Discounts outposts across 22 different states in September and October.  With the opening of the new locations, the company has completed its growth plans for fiscal 2023, with the addition of 97 new locations, for a total of 2,112 stores.

"This fall, we continued to expand our presence in both existing and newer markets," said Gregg McGillis, group executive VP, property development. "At Ross Dress for Less, we opened our first stores in the states of New York and Minnesota while DD's grew its footprint in California, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas.”

Looking ahead, Ross said it remain confident in its expansion plans and see plenty of opportunity to grow to at least 2,900 Ross Dress for Less and 700 DDs Discounts locations over time.

In August, Ross reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales as shoppers sought out its stores for bargains. The retailer earned $446 million, or $1.32 a share, in the quarter ended July 30, up from $385 million, or $1.11 a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts has expected earnings of $1.16 per share.

Sales rose to $4.9 billion, from $4.6 billion a year ago, topping estimates of $4.8 billion. Same-store sales rose 5%.

Based on its first half results and second half guidance, Ross said it expects earnings for the full year to be in the range of $5.15 to $5.26 compared to its previous outlook of $4.77 to $4.99. Same-store sales are expected to rise 2% to 3% versus previous expectations for them to be relatively flat. 

“Moving forward, we remain focused on delivering the most compelling bargains possible while also carefully managing our expenses and inventory to maximize our potential for both sales and earnings growth,” stated CEO Barbara Rentler said. “Longer-term, we believe the rigorous execution of our off-price business model will allow us to consistently deliver solid results.”  

Headquartered in Dublin, Calif., Ross had fiscal 2022 revenues of $18.7 billion. The company operates a total of 2,112 locations — including 1,765 Ross stores and 347 DD’s Discounts stores — in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.