Ross Stores’ same store sales up by 7%

Ross Stores reported that sales increased 11% to

$725 million for the four weeks ended April 28, 2012, up from $651 million for the four weeks ended April 30, 2011. Comparable store sales for the month grew 7% on top of a very strong 10% increase last year.

For the quarter ended April 28, 2012, sales totaled $2.357 billion, a 14% increase over the $2.075 billion in sales for the quarter ended April 30, 2011. Comparable store sales for the 13 weeks ended April 28, 2012, grew 9% over the prior year period.

Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased with our April and first quarter sales which were well ahead of expectations. Our continued ability to deliver a wide array of name brand bargains to today's value-focused consumers drove broad-based merchandise and geographic gains in both periods."

Ross Stores, Inc. is an S&P 500, Fortune 500 and Nasdaq 100 (ROST) company headquartered in Pleasanton, California, with fiscal 2011 revenues of $8.6 billion. The company operates Ross Dress for Less, the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States with 1,051 locations in 30 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.