PLEASANTON, Calif.–Off-price chain Ross Stores reported fourth quarter top-and-bottom-line gains, fueled in part by the glut of closeout buys on the market, Michael Balmuth, the retailer’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Net earnings for the 13 weeks ended Jan. 31 grew to a record $97.4 million, up from $94.5 million in the year ago quarter.
Sales rose 5 percent to $1.73 billion. Comparable store sales slipped 1 percent.
“Our results are especially noteworthy considering the extremely challenging macro-economic and retail environment that became increasingly difficult as the year progressed,” Balmuth said, in the statement. “A key driver of this performance was the efficient execution of our resilient and flexible off-price strategies, which included taking advantage of the huge amount of close-out opportunities in the marketplace. This enabled us to deliver fresh and exciting assortments of sharply priced name brand bargains to our customers. More importantly, we accomplished this while also operating the business with leaner in-store inventories, which drove faster turns and reduced markdowns, resulting in higher merchandise gross margin.”