Ross 2011 Annual Report Download - page 15

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13
Distribution
We have four distribution processing facilities — two in California, one in Pennsylvania, and one in South Carolina. We ship all of
our merchandise to our stores through these distribution centers, which are large, highly automated, and built to suit our specific
off-price business model.
In addition, we own two and lease three other warehouse facilities for packaway storage. We use other third-party facilities as
needed for storage of packaway inventory.
We also utilize third-party cross docks to distribute merchandise to stores on a regional basis. Shipments are made by contract
carriers to the stores from three to six times per week depending on location.
We believe that our distribution centers with their current expansion capabilities will provide adequate processing capacity to
support store growth in 2012. Information on the size and locations of our distribution centers and warehouse facilities is found
under “Properties” in Item 2.
Advertising
We rely primarily on television advertising to communicate the Ross value proposition — brand name merchandise at everyday
low prices. This strategy reflects our belief that television is the most efficient and cost-effective medium for communicating
everyday savings on a wide selection of brand name bargains for both the family and home. Advertising for dd’s DISCOUNTS
is primarily focused on new store grand openings and local grass roots initiatives.
Trademarks
The trademarks for Ross Dress For Less® and dd’s DISCOUNTS® have been registered with the United States Patent and
Trademark Office.
Employees
As of January 28, 2012, we had approximately 53,900 total employees, including an estimated 39,000 part-time employees.
Additionally, we hire temporary employees — especially during the peak seasons. Our employees are non-union. Management
considers the relationship between the Company and our employees to be good.
Competition
We believe the principal competitive factors in the off-price retail apparel and home fashion industry are offering significant
discounts on brand name merchandise, offering a well-balanced assortment that appeals to our target customers, and
consistently providing store environments that are convenient and easy to shop. To execute this concept, we continue to make
strategic investments in our buying organization. We also continue to make improvements to our core merchandising system to
strengthen our ability to plan, buy, and allocate product based on more local versus regional trends. We believe that we are well
positioned to compete on the basis of each of these factors.
Nevertheless, the retail apparel market is highly fragmented and competitive. We face a challenging macro-economic and retail
environment that creates intense competition for business from department stores, specialty stores, discount stores, warehouse
stores, other off-price retailers, and manufacturer-owned outlet stores, many of which are units of large national or regional
chains that have substantially greater resources. We also compete to some degree with retailers that sell apparel and home fashions
through catalogs or over the internet. The retail apparel and home-related businesses may become even more competitive
in the future.