Ross Stores Inc.’s expansion plans are on track for the year as the off-price retailer said it added 26 units, and that it “remains confident” it can eventually have a total base of 2,500 stores.
Over the past two months, the company added 19 Ross Dress for Less units and seven dd’s Discounts stores in 14 states. The total number of Ross Dress for Less is now 1,276 and dd’s Discounts is 172.
The retailer said the new locations “complete the company’s 2015 expansion plans to add a total of 90 stores during the year.”
Jim Fassio, president and chief development officer, said the “ongoing focus remains on expansion across both existing and newer markets, such as the Midwest. Longer term, we continue to plan for significant growth throughout all markets and remain confident that Ross Dress for Less can grow to 2,000 locations and dd’s Discounts can become a chain of 500 stores.”
Last month, while speaking at a Goldman, Sachs & Co. conference, John G. Call, secretary, executive vice president of finance and legal at Ross Stores, told investors that the off-price segment has a lot of momentum left in it and there’s plenty of room for growth. The off-price segment has about an eight percent share of the retail market, he said.
Call said in the last five or six years “since the economic slowdown in 2008, there’s been a little bit of an acceleration in that market share gain — and we don’t see that ending anytime soon. We think there’s still growth left in the off-price segment. And I think there’s room for more off-price stores.”
Shares of the retailer, which has more than $11 billion in annual sales, jumped 2.6 percent in the morning trading session to $50.33. Its 52-week high is $56.68, and the low is $37.59. The company’s market capitalization is $20.8 billion.