Ross Stores, Inc.
Leadership History
3 leaders · 1996 to present
James G. Conroy is the CEO of Ross Stores, in the role since 2025. The first chief executive was Michael Balmuth, from 1996.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James G. Conroy | Chief Executive Officer | 2025 | Present | 1 |
| Barbara Rentler | Former Chief Executive Officer | 2014 | 2025 | 11 |
| Michael Balmuth | Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | 1996 | 2014 | 18 |
Ross Stores runs two off-price chains. Ross Dress for Less sells name-brand apparel, footwear and home fashions at 20% to 60% below department and specialty store regular prices. dd's DISCOUNTS targets a more moderate-income shopper with savings of 20% to 70% versus moderate department and discount store regular prices. Both operate in strip centers and rely on fast-changing assortments rather than e-commerce. The company is headquartered in Dublin, California.
Ross earns nearly all revenue from in-store merchandise sales at Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS. More than 800 merchants buy branded apparel, footwear, home goods and accessories from manufacturer overruns, canceled orders and closeouts. Part of that buying is held as packaway inventory for later seasons. Stores are self-service with simple fixtures in strip centers, which keeps occupancy and labor costs low, and assortments change constantly so shoppers return often. Ross does not sell merchandise online.
Chief Executive Officer
2025 – Present
1 year (current)
Joined from Boot Barn, where he was CEO from 2012 to 2024, and took over at Ross in February 2025. His team has leaned into marketing, brand-forward merchandise and store experience upgrades, and raised the 2026 store opening plan to 115.
Under Conroy, comparable store sales rose 17% in Q1 and 10% in Q2 of fiscal 2026, driven mainly by traffic.
Former Chief Executive Officer
2014 – 2025
11 years
A longtime Ross merchant who joined the company in 1986, Rentler became CEO in 2014 and led continued store expansion and the recovery after 2020 pandemic closures.
Sales grew from about $11 billion when she took over to $21.1 billion in fiscal 2024, her final full year as CEO.
Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
1996 – 2014
18 years
Balmuth became chief executive in 1996 and expanded Ross across the United States, launching dd's Discounts in 2004.
Ross sales grew from under $2 billion to more than $10 billion during his term. Barbara Rentler succeeded him in June 2014.
Ross faces tariff costs, wage pressure, shrink, freight volatility, consumer spending swings, competition from TJX and Burlington, and digital value competitors. The model also depends on having enough attractive branded closeout and opportunistic inventory to keep stores fresh.
Stuart Moldaw served as the founding CEO and Chairman in 1982, overseeing the acquisition of the original six Morrie Ross stores and transforming them into an off-price retail chain before taking the company public in 1985.
Norman Ferber became CEO in 1987 during a period of rapid overexpansion and inventory glut. Ferber instituted strict inventory controls, modernized logistics distribution, and steered the company to sustained profitability before becoming Chairman.
Michael Balmuth served as CEO for 18 years from 1996 to 2014, engineering one of the greatest retail growth stories in American history, growing store count from ~300 to over 1,200 and market capitalization from under $1 billion to over $17 billion.
Barbara Rentler joined Ross in 1986 as an assistant buyer, rising through merchandising leadership to become CEO in June 2014. She was one of the few female CEOs leading a Fortune 500 company and consistently ranked among the top-performing CEOs in America.
Under Rentler (2014-2024), annual sales grew from $11 billion to over $20 billion, store count expanded to over 2,100, the stock price nearly tripled, and Ross navigated pandemic supply-chain disruptions with industry-leading profitability.
In October 2024, Ross Stores announced the appointment of James Conroy as Chief Executive Officer effective February 2, 2025. Conroy previously served as President and CEO of Boot Barn, where he oversaw massive national retail store expansion and omnichannel growth.
Michael Hartshorn served as Chief Financial Officer and later Group President and Chief Operating Officer, managing store operations, real estate site acquisition, supply chain logistics, and technology systems alongside Barbara Rentler.
Adam Orvos serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ross Stores, joining in 2020 after senior financial leadership roles at Neiman Marcus, Belk, and Total Wine & More.
George P. Orban, an early investor and founding director who has served on the board since 1982, has served as Chairman of the Board, providing more than four decades of continuous governance leadership.
Ross emphasizes internal promotion and multi-decade tenure. Many of its top merchant executive vice presidents started as entry-level assistant buyers, cultivating specialized vendor relationships and off-price instincts over decades.
Barbara Rentler was consistently ranked by Harvard Business Review and Forbes as one of the world's top-performing CEOs based on long-term shareholder return, enterprise value growth, and consistent operating margin execution.
Conroy must navigate new store expansion toward the 3,600-store goal, expand dd's DISCOUNTS profitability, modernize distribution center automation, and mitigate retail shrinkage and wage inflation pressures.
Compare executive leadership tenures and strategic transitions
Explore Ross Stores
Core profile pages, founders and related research hubs for this company.