The American off-price retailer founded in 1950 that operates stores under the name Ross Dress for Less is Ross Stores.
Morris “Morrie” Ross opened the first Ross Department Store in San Bruno, California, in 1950. Ross personally handled buying and bookkeeping and reportedly worked exceptionally long hours while building the original business. In 1958, he sold the store to William Isackson, who expanded it to six locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The company’s modern off-price format emerged after investors purchased those six stores in 1982. Under new leadership, the chain shifted toward selling branded merchandise at discounted prices and expanded rapidly, reaching 107 stores within three years. Ross Stores became a public company through an initial public offering in 1985.
The corporate name and the store name are easy to confuse: Ross Stores, Inc. is the company, while Ross Dress for Less is its principal trade name. Marshalls and T.J. Maxx are also off-price retailers, and Burlington competes in the same broad segment, but none is the company described in the question. Ross Stores also operates the dd’s DISCOUNTS chain.