Ross Stores, Inc.
Founders
Morris Ross, Bill Isackson, Stuart Moldaw, Don Rowlett · Founded 1982 · HQ today: Dublin, California
Ross Stores was founded by Morris Ross, Bill Isackson, Stuart Moldaw, Don Rowlett in 1982. It is now led by James G. Conroy.
The Ross name dates to a single San Bruno, California department store opened by Morris Ross in 1950. Bill Isackson bought it in 1958 and grew it to six Bay Area stores. In 1982, an investor group including Stuart Moldaw and Don Rowlett bought that chain and converted it to the off-price Ross Dress for Less format. Ross went public on Nasdaq in 1985 and launched dd's DISCOUNTS in 2004.
Local Bay Area merchant who ran a traditional junior department store selling apparel and household goods.
Morris Ross opened the original Ross department store in San Bruno, California, in 1950. He ran the single store for several years before selling it in 1958. The off-price company that exists today kept his surname but was built by a later ownership group in 1982. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Bay Area retail operator who owned and expanded the pre-1982 Ross chain.
Bill Isackson bought the Ross store from Morris Ross in 1958 and grew it into a small chain of six Bay Area junior department stores. That six-store chain is what an investor group bought in 1982 and converted to the off-price format. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Retail founder and venture investor; earlier built specialty apparel concepts before backing Ross.
Stuart Moldaw was a Bay Area retail entrepreneur and venture investor who led the 1982 purchase of the six-store Ross chain with Don Rowlett and other investors. The group converted the stores to the off-price Ross Dress for Less format, and Moldaw served as an early chairman as the company went public in 1985. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Apparel and off-price merchandising executive.
Don Rowlett was the retail operator in the 1982 investor group that bought the Ross chain. He is credited with shaping the early off-price merchandising approach: buying branded goods opportunistically and selling them well below department store prices in low-cost stores. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
James G. Conroy
Chief Executive Officer
Under Conroy, comparable store sales rose 17% in Q1 and 10% in Q2 of fiscal 2026, driven mainly by traffic.
Barbara Rentler
Former Chief Executive Officer
Sales grew from about $11 billion when she took over to $21.1 billion in fiscal 2024, her final full year as CEO.
Michael Balmuth
Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ross sales grew from under $2 billion to more than $10 billion during his term. Barbara Rentler succeeded him in June 2014.
Ross Stores has two founding eras: Morris "Morrie" Ross founded the original Ross Department Stores in 1950, while retail entrepreneurs Stuart Moldaw and Donald Rowlett acquired the six-store chain in August 1982 and created the modern off-price company Ross Dress for Less.
Morris Ross was a retail merchant who opened the first Ross Department Store in San Bruno, California, in 1950, working up to 85 hours a week doing all buying, book-keeping, and floor merchandising before expanding to six small suburban department stores.
Born in Boston in 1927, Stuart Moldaw was a visionary merchant who moved to San Francisco and founded Country Casuals in 1958 and the Pic-A-Dill discount chain. Moldaw also co-founded early venture capital firm U.S. Venture Partners (USVP).
Donald Rowlett was an experienced off-price merchant who had served as an executive at Pic-A-Dill. He partnered with Moldaw in 1982 to create the off-price merchandising model for Ross, with the dd's DISCOUNTS chain later named in his honor.
Mervin G. Morris, the legendary founder of the Mervyn's department store chain, provided substantial personal venture financing and strategic board mentorship to Stuart Moldaw during the 1982 buyout of Ross.
The investor group acquired the six loss-making Ross department stores for approximately $1.5 million in August 1982, immediately liquidating traditional junior department store stock and re-opening as off-price apparel stores.
Moldaw and Rowlett kept the name "Ross" because the six Northern California stores already enjoyed established local brand equity in San Mateo County, simply appending "Dress for Less" to clearly communicate the new discount proposition.
Morris Ross retired from day-to-day retail operations in 1958/1982 to pursue residential and commercial real estate development in California, passing away in 1999 at the age of 84.
Stuart Moldaw was a major California philanthropist and civic leader, serving as Chairman of the San Francisco Foundation, Commissioner of the California State Parks Commission, and donating tens of millions to education, healthcare, and Jewish community charities before passing away in 2008.
Because Moldaw was a general partner at U.S. Venture Partners, he insisted on sophisticated computerized inventory systems, disciplined balance sheet management, and professional executive succession, insulating Ross from typical family-retail pitfalls.
In 1982, Moldaw originally envisioned building a regional 50-to-100 store California discount chain; the nationwide explosion into an S&P 500 company with over 2,100 stores far exceeded their earliest projections.
Stuart Moldaw and Donald Rowlett helped invent modern off-price retail, proving that consumers would eagerly sacrifice department store luxuries for the thrill of hunting first-quality name brands at bargain prices.
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