Cost cuts at Ross pay off in earnings

[jamesinca]

Jenny Strasburg, Chronicle Staff Writer Wednesday, November 19, 2003

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Ross Stores Inc.'s third-quarter per-share earnings gained 14 percent on improved sales and store openings, the company said Tuesday.

The 573-store seller of discounted name-brand clothing and accessories is based in Newark but plans to move its headquarters and 500 home-office employees to Pleasanton in July.

The retailer also will close its Newark distribution center next month, eliminating 800 East Bay jobs in a move announced in 2002 to consolidate its West Coast distribution operations in Southern California.

About 200 Newark distribution employees accepted transfers to Ross' new, 1.3-million-square-foot facility in Perris (Riverside County), about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles, Ross spokeswoman Katie Loughnot said.

Of the remaining almost 600 Northern California distribution jobs, about 80 employees left the company in October, and 500 will work through December before their jobs end and severance packages kick in, she said.
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A little more of that jobless recovery that this administration is so fond of.