Ross Distribution begins Construction

December 11, 2024

Ross Dress for Less begins construction on Randolph facility after county approves $300M building permit

In late May, the N.C. Economic Investment Committee approved a package of incentives worth up to $8.4 million for Ross. Randleman and Randolph County approved an even larger incentive package of $38.6 million over 15 years, in addition to Randolph County agreeing to transfer 30 acres of county-owned property valued at $1 million to Ross.

When Ross received approval for the incentives, it projected that the facility would be 1.7 million square-feet, about 570,000 square-feet less than the size listed on the building permit.

The site is in the I-74 Industrial Center developed by Samet Corp. It was initially described as being in Randleman, but the building permits lists the address in Sophia..

In July, Ross paid $21.24 million for approximately 336.7 acres land from Samet Corp for the facility. Samet had assembled the land and purchased it for $11.95 million. While Samet had previously announced that industrial center would be 1,600 acres, the Randolph County EDC said in May that it had worked with the company to secure additional land from surrounding property owners for the site of be 330 acres.

Ross is expected to invest a total of $450 million into the project through the end of 2026. The N.C. Department of Commerce predicated that the project would increase the state's gross domestic product by $1.4 billion and net state revenue $19.7 million, with a return on investment generating $1.61 for every state dollar invested, according to its economic-forecasting model.

The project is expected to create 852 jobs, which includes 550 full-time jobs through third-party staffing not included in the calculation for the state incentive package. The average wages for the jobs is projected to be $45,806, which is almost equivalent to Randolph County’s average salary of $45,801.

Ross Dress for Less is part of Ross Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: ROST), which is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area. The company describes Ross Dress for Less as the largest "off-price apparel and home fashion chain" in the United States.

Ross's retail jobs in North Carolina were not included in the incentive. The retailer has eight stores in the Triad, including two locations each in Winston-Salem and Greensboro and one in High Point, Asheboro, Clemmons and Burlington respectively. Outside of the Triad, it  has seven stores in the Triangle, three in the Charlotte metro area and one in Sanford.

Source: Triad Business Journal