The company has confronted financial challenges in recent years, but are current online rumors an accurate reflection of the entity’s health?
Author’s Note
This article is based on corporate postings and accredited media reports. Linked information within this article is attributed to the following outlets: Wikipedia.org, ScrapeHero.com, RetailLeader.com, Google.com, and SeekingAlpha.com.
Introduction
Wikipedia features a comprehensive and well-attributed overview of the Ross Dress For Less clothing chain: Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.
The company was founded in 1982.
Per ScrapeHero.com: There are 1,697 Ross Stores locations in the United States as of December 12, 2022. The state with the most number of Ross Stores locations in the U.S. is California, with 336 locations, which is about 20% of all Ross Stores locations in the U.S.
Based on location count alone, the company appears to be stable, if not healthy. As is typical with such large chains, however, online rumors as to a given company’s health are often misstated.
Let us explore.
Ross Dress For Less, 2023
The company, in fact, remains in the midst of an announced expansion, though individual locations have permanently shuttered this year for strategic reasons.
In my July 1st NewsBreak piece, “List of Ross Dress For Less Location Closings,” I addressed these issues, none of which, incidentally, have negatively impacted said expansion plans that remain in force over five months later as a targeted Google search will verify.
Though my article listed then-recent individual Ross Dress For Less location closures, it also excerpted a March 8th report from RetailLeader.com that gave readers cause for optimism. In the outlet’s “Ross Will Open 100 New Stores in 2022,” further expansion was reported: "We recently raised our store potential targets for both Ross and dd's Discounts,” Gregg McGillis, group executive vice president, property development, said in a statement. “Our return to stronger unit growth in 2022 reflects our belief that Ross can ultimately grow to 2,900 locations and dd's Discounts can become a chain of 700 stores given consumers' ongoing focus on value and convenience…”
My article also excerpted a report published by SeekingAlpha.com, titled “Ross Stores: A Disappointing Start to 2022,” whereby the news was more balanced: Ross Stores released its Q1 results last week, reporting net sales of ~$4.33 billion, a 4% decline from the year-ago period. The soft results were related to a broad-based slowdown for the majority of Q1, and Ross Stores has now reeled in its FY2022 guidance estimates. Compounding matters, inflationary pressures and supply chain headwinds are not helping margins; annual EPS is now expected to decline year-over-year.
Regardless, the entity did not react to mixed financial issues by pausing their plans. Instead, the expansion continues.
Conclusion
Though like most businesses Ross Dress For Less is occasionally financially challenged, it is nonetheless a a stable company per most financial metrics. As such, speculation of mass closings appears to be misguided and bereft of context. Though there has been no official word from the company to this effect, it is unlikely such business decisions will be effectuated in the near-future.
Regardless, in the event of pertinent updates to these matters I will share them here on NewsBreak.
Thank you for reading.
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