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The discount retailer will lease space vacated by Waccamaw's HomePlace. The 30,000-square-foot store will employ 30.
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 2, 2003
SEMINOLE -- Rumors have been circulating for months, but now it's official.
Ross Stores Inc., a national chain that sells discount clothing and home accessories, is coming to Seminole.
This fall, the California retailer will unveil a 30,000-square-foot Ross Dress for Less store at Seminole Mall. Ross is moving into the former Waccamaw's HomePlace store, which closed in summer 2001. The company, which competes with Marshalls and TJ Maxx, has 12 stores in the Tampa Bay area and 65 in Florida.
"We're extremely excited abut Ross coming in," said Seth Layton, executive vice president of leasing for RMC Property Group of Tampa, which manages Seminole Mall. "It is an excellent complement to the other valued retailers we have at the mall."
Ross' merchandise is 20 percent to 60 percent below regular department store prices, according to the company's Web site. The store sells overstocked and closeout items and some products that are slightly irregular. Ross saves money by not running special sales and not advertising brand names.
Products include men's, women's and children's clothing; shoes; home accessories; fragrances and jewelry.
The Seminole store, which soon will be under renovation, will employ about 30 full- and part-time workers.
The store owes its popularity to its daily bargains, said Janet Kanios, Ross' vice president of marketing. "We're all about delivering the best brands at the lowest prices," she said.
The lease with Ross took nearly a year to negotiate, Layton said. The 425,442-square-foot shopping center, often referred to as Seminole's downtown, was sold in March 2002 to a group of New York investors. The mall's anchors are Publix, Kmart and Stein Mart.
With Ross filling Waccamaw's vacancy, Seminole Mall is now 96 percent leased, Layton said.
Ross Stores began in 1982 with six stores in the San Francisco area. Today, the company has 507 stores nationwide in 23 states, with most locations in neighborhood shopping centers.
The Newark, Calif., retailer has been enjoying profits. In the three months that ended Feb. 1, Ross' sales increased 14 percent to $965-million from $848-million.
Opened: 1982
Stores: 507 locations in 23 states
Employees: 20,000
Headquarters: Newark, Calif.