Ross Will Open 100 New Stores in 2022

The retailer already opened 22 Ross Dress for Less stores and eight dd’ Discounts stores in 15 states and Guam in February and March. Those stores are part of Ross’s 100-store plan for this year, including 75 Ross and 25 dd’s locations. The retailer currently operates a combined total of 1,952 Ross Dress for Less and dd's Discounts locations in 40 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

"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. Our continued expansion of both chains also demonstrates our commitment to further building our presence in both existing and newer markets.”

Ross is not the only retailer to open new locations this year, as consumers return to physical stores amid elevated demand from the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, retailers announced twice as many store openings as closures, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). While that reflects the high number of closures in 2020, it’s also indicative of the rebound in consumer spending. 

The store openings announcement also comes after the retailer released its fourth quarter and end-of-year earnings. The company reported total sales for 2021 grew 18% to $18.9 billion, up from $16.0 billion in fiscal 2019, with comparable store sales up 13%.