INDUSTRY NEWS

PLEASANTON, Calif.—Ross Stores, Inc. reports that sales for the four weeks ended October 31, 2009 increased 14 percent to $557 million from $490 million for the four weeks ended November 1, 2008. Same store sales for the month rose 9 percent.

For the thirteen weeks ended October 31, 2009, sales were $1.744 billion, a 12 percent increase over the $1.555 billion in sales for the thirteen weeks ended November 1, 2008. Comparable store sales for the quarter ended October 31, 2009 were up 8 percent on top of flat same store sales in the prior year period.

For the nine months ended October 31, 2009, sales totaled $5.204 billion, up 10 percent over the $4.752 billion in sales for the nine months ended November 1, 2008. Comparable store sales for the nine months ended October 31, 2009 increased 5 percent on top of a 3 percent gain in the same period last year.

CEO and vice chairman said in a statment, "We are very pleased with our October and third quarter performance, as both sales and margins were well ahead of our expectations. Merchandise and geographic sales trends during the month were relatively broad-based. shoes, dresses and home remained the top-performing categories, while the Southwest, Southeast and California were the strongest regions."

Mr. Balmuth continued, "We now estimate that earnings per share for the thirteen weeks ended October 31, 2009 will be in the range of $.83 to $.84, up from our prior guidance of $.75 to $.77 and compared to $.44 in the third quarter of 2008."

The company will provide detailed sales and earnings guidance for the fourth quarter ending January 30, 2010 with its third quarter earnings release and conference call on Thursday, November 19th.

The company expects to report November 2009 sales results on Thursday, December 3rd.

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