Dive Brief:

• Ross Stores Inc. plans to open 95 new stores this year, including 75 Ross Dress for Less and 20 dd’s Discounts, the company says.

• The off-price retailer of clothing and home goods, second to TJX Companies’ T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, runs 1,173 stores in 33 states, Washington DC, and Guam.

• The plans continue after years of expansion, during which the Dublin, Calif. company has seen healthy sales.

Dive Insight:

Ross Stores Inc.’s brick-and-mortar expansion appears to be a bright spot in an environment where many retailers are struggling to balance their physical store footprint with e-commerce. But could the retailer be ignoring signs that it might be better off slowing things down a bit? While Ross has seen great growth over the past four years, that is slowing, and the improving economy could be in part to blame, observers say. Lower-and middle-income shoppers often gravitate to off-price retailers looking for bargains during troubled economic times, but drift back to higher-priced retailers when times are better.