Ross on Monday announced it has opened 24 new stores in June and July. The retailer said it opened 21 stores under its namesake banner and three DD’s Discount stores in 17 states, according to a company press release.
“These recent openings reflect our ongoing plans to continue building our presence in both existing and newer markets,” Richard Lietz, Ross’s executive vice president of property development, said in a statement. “This summer, Ross expanded its footprint in several existing markets and added locations in Michigan, Minnesota, and New York, states we entered last year, while DD's also expanded its presence in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Texas.”
The company, which opened 18 new stores overall during Q1, said as of Monday it operated 1,795 Ross locations in 43 states, Washington, D.C. and Guam, and 353 DD’s Discounts in 22 states, giving the retailer a physical presence of 2,148 total stores.
California-based Ross said it wants to eventually grow its store footprint to over 3,600 locations. During a May earnings call, CEO Barbara Rentler said the retailer expects to open about 90 stores overall this year — 75 Ross and 15 DD’s Discounts, according to a call transcript. She said that count doesn’t reflect plans to close or relocate 10 to 15 older stores.
Off-price rival TJX also plans to grow its store footprint. Just in the U.S., the company in May said it planned to add 45 net new T.J. Maxx and Marshalls locations, 40 HomeGoods locations and 26 Sierra stores. Overall, TJX says it operates over 4,900 stores under a half dozen banners globally.
Ross in May reported first-quarter sales rose 8% year over year to $4.9 billion, up from $4.5 billion the prior year. Comparable sales rose 3% in Q1 versus the prior year. Rentler said in a statement at the time that “though we had hoped to do better, first quarter sales were in line with guidance despite macroeconomic headwinds that continued to pressure our customers’ discretionary spending.”
Last fiscal year, sales for the company’s DD’s banner trailed those of its namesake Ross banner. In response, Ross said in March it planned on growing the DD’s banner in existing markets. DD’s offers first-quality, in-season name-brand apparel and home decor.
“I would say we're just at the beginning stages of making merchandise adjustments [at DD’s Discounts] to improve the value offerings. And while we're encouraged by the initial customer response, it's still very, very early,” Chief Operating Officer Michael Hartshorn said, according to an earnings call transcript from May.
For the company’s second quarter, which ends Aug. 3, Ross said in May it expects comps to rise 2% to 3% year over year on top of a 5% gain during the period last year, while the retailer is maintaining its full-year guidance for comp growth of 2% to 3%.
