In September and October. Ross Shops opened 28 Ross Dress for Less and 12 dd’s DISCOUNTS sites in 21 states. Exceeding its expected expansion of establishing roughly 100 stores during F.Y. 2022, which runs from January 28 to February 28, 2023. With the most recent openings. Ross now has 2,019 Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores. Spread across 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.
We inaugurated our 2,000th store this autumn and kept growing Ross and dd’s footprints. In both our more current states and established markets. According to a statement from Gregg McGillis, Group EVP of Property Development at Ross Stores.
Ross extended its foothold in Ohio while dd’s expanded its store base in Illinois, in addition to openings in California, Florida, and Texas. We are still optimistic about our expansion and continue to see plenty of room to eventually reach at least 2,900 Ross Dress for Less and 700 dd’s DISCOUNTS stores.
How is Ross doing financially?
Ross Stores had a dismal first quarter, with sales falling from $4.5 billion in Q1 2021 to $4.3 billion in Q1 2022. As a result, the retailer revised its outlook for the rest of the year. Additionally, Q2 2022 sales declined from $4.8 billion to $4.6 billion compared to the same quarter in Q1 2021.
Despite these declines. On October 25, Wells Fargo upgraded the retailer’s shares. Increasing the short-term price target from $90 per share to $110 per share. Why is that? According to NASDAQ. Analysts forecast that the off-price store will operate well through 2023 even as consumers continue to cut their spending due to inflation.
Many discount and off-price retailers are making investments. In new store openings, Burlington, an off-price retailer, has remained committed to opening 90 net new shops during F.Y. 2022. Which runs from January 28, 2023, to that goal. In the second quarter of 2022, Dollar General expanded its strategy by opening 227 new stores, remodeling 533 others, and moving 30 other businesses.
As its footprint approaches 2,000 locations, Ross adds 40 more stores
40 new sites have been opened by Ross Stores. Including 12 under its D.D.’s Discounts label and 28 under the Ross Dress for Less banner.
The number of stores owned by the retailer surpassed 2,000 this fall. Retailers have opened shops in new sites in California, Florida, Texas, Ohio, and Illinois.
Ross added almost 100 new stores throughout the whole fiscal year. According to a news release by Gregg McGillis, group executive vice president for property development at Ross. The firm anticipates “plenty of opportunities to grow” to 2,900 Ross Dress for fewer stores and 700 DD’s Discounts locations.
The company’s biggest rival, TJX Cos., has 1,157 Marshalls locations and 1,290 T.J. Maxx locations in the United States as of July 30.
The company will stick to its store opening schedule for the year. In May, Ross Chief Operating Officer Michael Hartshorn responded that “we think there’s market share available.”
As it has in recent years, Hartshorn continued, “We think the value will become increasingly important for the client.” This is according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. We have a fantastic chance ahead of us. We would therefore continue with the store opening.
Ross’s primary customer this year has been having trouble with inflation. When Ross attempted to make some intelligent price hikes on its products earlier in the year, as Telsey Advisory Group analysts highlighted in September, the retailer’s customers “did not respond favorably.”
Conclusion
The company’s CEO, Barbara Rentler, said: “We are dissatisfied with our sales figures. Which were impacted by the growing inflationary pressures. That our consumers were experiencing as well as a more aggressive retail environment. Because of lower incentive expenditures brought on by the below-plan topline performance, earnings exceeded our guidance range.
Ms. Rentler went on. In the second quarter, we spent $235 million to buy back 2.9 million shares of common stock. As previously stated, we anticipate repurchasing $950 million of common stock. In fiscal 2022, part of our $1.9 billion, two-year repurchase program that runs through fiscal 2023.
