ROSS STORES, INC.

Ross Stores, Inc. is a retail company that operates two brands of off-price retail stores: Ross Dress for Less and dd's DISCOUNTS. Ross is the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States, with 1,764 locations, and dd's DISCOUNTS has 345 stores. The company's mission is to offer competitive values to customers by focusing on maintaining an appropriate level of recognizable brands, meeting customer needs on a local basis, delivering an in-store shopping experience, and managing real estate growth. Merchandise is purchased through various methods, including packaway merchandise, which accounts for approximately 40% of total inventories. The company's stores are located predominantly in community and neighborhood shopping centers and are designed to be organized and easy to shop. Ross and dd's DISCOUNTS have separate buying organizations, with over 900 merchants combined. The company invests in new information systems and technology to support growth and operates distribution processing facilities and warehouses. Ross uses a variety of marketing and advertising media to communicate its value proposition to customers. The principal trademarks of the company are ROSS, Ross Dress For Less, and dd’s DISCOUNTS. The executive officers of the company include Michael Balmuth, Barbara Rentler, Michael Hartshorn, Michael Kobayashi, Karen Fleming, and Stephen Brinkley, among others. The company's website is www.rossstores.com, and its ticker symbol is ROST.