Ross Dress for Less is slated to open in early October at the Showcase at Indio shopping development, at 42-225 Jackson St.ALDRICH M. TAN • aldrich.tan@indiosun.com • September 11, 2009
A major clothing retailer plans to open a store in Indio next month.
Ross Dress for Less is slated to open in early October at the Showcase at Indio shopping development, at 42-225 Jackson St.
“We are certainly excited to open a store in Indio, and we are looking forward to bringing Ross to that area,” Ross senior director of investor and media relations Bobbi Chaville said last week.
The store will be part of the developing North Jackson retail area that also includes SuperTarget, Marshalls, Home Depot, WinCo Foods and 24 Hour Fitness.
A Ross sign that can be seen from Interstate 10 near the Jackson Street exit went up about a year ago when the company signed a lease with Showcase's developer Lundin Development Company, Chaville said.
But the Ross building remained empty for a year because the company decided to slow down the number of stores that it would open. Store growth slowed from 7 percent last year to 5 percent this year, Chaville said.
“We had made a decision to slow the growth to focus on internal things here and the productivity of existing stores,” she said. “It wasn't necessarily what was happening to the economy.”
The growing city of Indio has a great need for retail stores, developer Herb Lundin said. He successfully brought in SuperTarget and Marshalls to the development last year.
“It is a very large city with very, very little retail,” he said. “We are trying to create a center that provides quality operations to best serve this beautiful city and the future growth of the area and beyond.”
Indio City Councilman Glenn Miller said he understood public concern over Ross' business decision, but he also acknowledged the situation that retailers are facing during these tough economic times.
“I would rather Ross open up later and be successful than open up too early and struggle,” he said last week.
Ross' success in Indio will help bring more jobs and more sales tax revenue to Indio, Miller said.
According to Chaville, Ross stores have an average of 40 employees, and the Indio store will be hiring soon on the company's Web site.
The Ross store will also increase the foot traffic at the North Jackson retail area and help bring more restaurants and businesses into the area, Miller said.
“You'll see a lot more stores coming in,” he said. “They have waited until the end of summer because they all want to open by December.”
Construction started this week on three more stores in the same development. They're expected to open by the end of the year and the beginning of next year, Lundin said.
Announcements about those retailers will be made at a later time. For now, Lundin said he is glad that Ross will soon open.
“We put a lot of effort into it, and we are so glad that it is coming soon,” he said.