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Ross Stores to acquire 46 store sites from Albertsons

11 Oct '06

2 min read

Ross Stores Inc announced an agreement with Albertsons LLC to acquire 46 Albertsons real estate sites in California, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Colorado and Oklahoma. The Company plans to incorporate these properties into its 2007 expansion program for Ross and dd's DISCOUNTS.

Along with other new stores already planned for fiscal 2007, the acquisition of these former Albertsons properties will put the Company's projected total unit growth in the range of 11 percent to 12 percent for the year ending February 2, 2008.

Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are excited about this unique real estate opportunity, which gives Ross the ability to acquire a substantial number of store sites in several of our established, top performing markets.”

“Availability of quality retail locations is generally limited in these more established areas. As a result, we believe this transaction offers a rare chance to enhance our long- term growth prospects and returns by adding these stores, almost all in our highly productive, core Sunbelt states."

Ross will take possession of some of these sites as soon as November 2006, with estimated openings beginning as early as March 2007. Capital expenditure requirements to convert these sites to the Ross or dd's DISCOUNTS formats are projected to be in the range of $1.5 to $2.0 million per store.

Based on the timing of these site acquisitions, capital expendituresand other cash requirements are expected to increase by up to $10 million in fiscal 2006.

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