Ross 2015 Annual Report Download - page 25

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23
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
At January 30, 2016, we operated a total of 1,446 stores, of which 1,274 were Ross stores in 34 states, the District of
Columbia and Guam, and 172 were dd’s DISCOUNTS stores in 15 states. All stores are leased, with the exception of three
locations which we own.
During fiscal 2015, we opened 70 new Ross stores and closed six existing stores. The average approximate Ross store size
is 28,600 square feet.
During fiscal 2015, we opened 20 new dd’s DISCOUNTS stores and closed no existing stores. The average approximate
dd’s DISCOUNTS store size is 23,300 square feet.
During fiscal 2015, no one store accounted for more than 1% of our sales.
We carry earthquake insurance to help mitigate the risk of financial loss due to an earthquake.
Our real estate strategy in 2016 is to primarily open stores in states where we currently operate, to increase our market
penetration and reduce overhead and advertising expenses as a percentage of sales in each market. We also expect to
continue our store expansion in newer markets in 2016. Important considerations in evaluating a new store location in both
newer and more established markets are the availability and quality of potential sites, demographic characteristics,
competition, and population density of the local trade area. In addition, we continue to consider opportunistic real estate
acquisitions.