Ross Dress for Less

In 1950, Morris “Morrie” Ross, opened Ross Department Store in San Bruno, California. He worked 85 hours a week doing all the buying and bookkeeping. Ahh, the good old days.

In 1958, Ross made a dramatic career change and became a real estate developer. He sold his store to William Isackson who opened more stores in San Bruno, Pacifica, Novato, Vacaville, Redwood City, and Castro Valley.


Ross’s 1,500 U.S. Store Locations

In 1982, Isackson sold his chain of six stores to Mervin Morris (founder of the Mervyns chain of department stores) and a group of other investors. They changed the format to discount retail stores and within three years they grew the chain to 107 stores under Stuart Moldaw and Don Rowlett. Sales grew in leaps and bounds and by the end of 1995, the chain had an annual sales total of $1.4 billion with 292 stores in 18 states. By 2012 Ross reached $9.7 billion for the fiscal year with 1,091 stores in 33 states and an additional 108 for Dd’s Discounts in eight states.

Over the past 30+ years, Ross Stores, Inc. into a
$14.1 billion Fortune 500 Company.

Keeping their costs low has enabled Ross to open new stores across the country and to outperform traditional retailers.

Ross Dress for Less® has 1,483 Ross Dress for Less stores in 37 states, the District of Columbia and Guam,
with more on the way.

dd’s DISCOUNTS® , with 237 stores in 18 states,
offers fashions for younger buyers.

Ross is an equal opportunity employer, with a team of more than 71,000 associates, from all backgrounds. Ross’s is committed to appreciating, respecting and developing every individual they hire.

In 2014, Ross moved its headquarters from Pleasanton to Dublin, California. That same year, the position of CEO was taken over by Barbara Rentler, who was the 25th female CEO of a Fortune 500 Company.

Barbara Rentler took the place of CEO Michael Balmuth on June 1, 2014; she was the 25th female CEO of a Fortune 500company.[9] Ross moved its headquarters from Pleasanton to neighboring Dublin, California in 2014.

Gloria Sauvé
Communications and Marketing

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