Ross Stores

The first Ross junior department store opened in 1957.⁠[1]

In August 1982, Stuart Moldaw, the company’s founder, and a group of investors acquired the six-store chain and converted the locations to the off-price format.⁠[2]

Ross Stores, Inc. went public on August 8, 1985, at an initial price of $17.00 per share.⁠[2]

In 1986 the company closed 25 unprofitable stores, mainly in Texas and Oklahoma, and lost $41.4 million.⁠[1]

After co-purchaser Donald Rowlett resigned in 1987, Norman A. Ferber became president and chief operating officer, adding the CEO title in January 1988.⁠[1]

In June 1989 the company reincorporated in Delaware.⁠[2]

The first 10 dd’s DISCOUNTS stores opened in Northern California in the third quarter of 2004. By then headquartered in Pleasanton, California, the company sold its former headquarters and distribution center in Newark.⁠[3]

Standard & Poor’s announced that the retailer Ross Stores would join the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry after the close of trading on December 18, with Cliffs Natural Resources and SAIC, replacing Dynegy, KB Home and Convergys.⁠[4]

In 2012 Ross bought its three-building, 414,000-square-foot Dublin headquarters campus for an undisclosed price and occupied it two years later. In January 2023 it listed 74,000 square feet of the headquarters at 5130 Hacienda Drive for lease.⁠[5]

On May 7, 2014, the company announced that Michael Balmuth, vice chairman and CEO since 1996, would become executive chairman and that Barbara Rentler, president and chief merchandising officer of Ross Dress for Less since 2009, would become CEO, effective June 1. Norman Ferber, chairman since 1993, would remain a director as chairman emeritus.⁠[6]

In Jacobo v. Ross Stores, Inc., plaintiffs alleged that Ross’s price tags misleadingly showed a sale price and a “Compare At” price. By February 7, 2019, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald in California had granted preliminary approval of a settlement under which Ross would pay $4,854,000 into a settlement fund and post signs in its stores describing its comparison pricing.⁠[7]

On March 20, 2020, the company announced that it would temporarily close all Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS locations from that day through April 3 and provide up to two weeks of continued pay to full-time and hourly associates unable to work.⁠[8]

On December 2, 2020, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office announced that Ross Stores, Inc. would pay $3,335,000 to settle a statewide retail hazardous waste case brought with 38 other California district attorneys’ offices. Prosecutors alleged unauthorized disposal of regulated waste at local landfills.⁠[9]

On October 28, 2024, the company announced that James G. Conroy, president and chief executive officer of Boot Barn, would join as CEO-elect on December 2, 2024, and become CEO on February 2, 2025, when Barbara Rentler would move to an advisory role through March 31, 2027.⁠[10]

At fiscal 2025 year-end, Ross Dress for Less had 1,904 locations and dd’s DISCOUNTS had 363 stores in 22 states. Fiscal 2025 total sales rose 8% to a record $22.8 billion, and net income was $2.1 billion, similar to the prior year, with earnings per share of $6.61.⁠[11]

As of January 31, 2026, the company had approximately 111,000 associates. Its eighth distribution center opened in Buckeye, Arizona, in May 2025.⁠[12]

In the second quarter ended August 1, 2026, total sales rose 13% and comparable store sales 10%. Net income was $851 million, versus $508 million a year earlier, including about $253 million in IEEPA tariff refunds. The company opened 47 stores in the quarter and raised its fiscal 2026 opening plan to 115 locations.⁠[13]