Introduction:
Ross Stores Inc., founded in the year 1982 by two friends – Morris Ross and Bill Isackson, is a departmental store chain of American origin that operates under the name of Ross Dress for Less. Headquartered in Dublin, the company has undergone tremendous growth in the past few decades to become the largest off-price retailer in the United States, with the company having as many as 1500 locations around the US.
On the other hand, Burlington is another American off-price store retailer with its headquarters located in New Jersey. Burlington has stores in as many as 40 states in the US and Puerto Rico. The company is famous among the customers for the quality materials it provides at remarkably low prices.
Burlington is owned by the investment firm, Bain Capital and not by Ross, as many people believe it to be. Burlington is a competitor to Ross with the former being the third-largest off-price retailer in the United States after TJX companies and “Ross Dress for Less” stores.
Burlington’s actual owners:
Burlington, also known by the name of Burlington coat factory, was founded in the year 1972 by an American international, Monroe Milstein. The company was ultimately purchased by the private investment firm, Bain Capital, in 2008, which has been in charge of the company since then. The company offered a public offering in the year 2013 again.
Bain Capital is a private investment bank of American origin that has stakes in more than 20 different companies as of today. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company specializes in private equity management, investing, and real estate. Bain Capital has acquired a large number of companies since its inception with a few notable names being Canada Goose, Domino’s Pizza, Burlington Coat Factory, Warner Music Group, etc.
Comparison between Ross and Burlington:
In the head-to-head battle between Ross and Burlington, the latter seems to have a considerable edge over the former one. Burlington products are known to be cheaper than that of Ross without the quality being compromised at all. Burlington products are also known for their vintage designs coupled with innovative styles. On the other hand, Ross’ products are simple and are sufficient to meet the needs of those who do not want anything fancy.
In terms of employees’ reviews of their workplace also, Burlington is stated as a much better place to work in than Ross due to many factors such as job profile, career growth opportunities, salary scale, etc. On the other hand, there have been occasional complaints from the employees at Ross about the high job pressure and seemingly impossible targets to be fulfilled at times.
Conclusion:
We have seen in this article that Burlington is owned by the famous investment firm, Bain Capital, and not by Ross. Ross and Burlington have no relation to each other in terms of ownership. The similar types of items being sold in both the stores at massive discounts make Ross and Burlington direct competitors with each other. Both the brands have received overwhelmingly positive responses from the customers, and the healthy competition between them makes the customers the winner of the situation.
Frequently Asked Questions:
We searched on the internet about the questions that people ask the most about the brands, Ross and Burlington. In this section, a few of the most important questions have been answered.
Question. Why do both of these companies not sell their goods online?
There has been major growth in the e-commerce industry in the past few years. Few studies point out the fact that the growth in online businesses has been 20% in the past five years itself. However, Ross and Burlington do not have any online shopping facilities.
The main reason behind this is the fact that these stores fall in the moderate off-price category, with the average price of the goods at the stores being generally around $10. This does not leave the companies enough space to generate profits after excluding all the necessary costs, which is the reason why Ross and Burlington are reluctant to open online shopping sites.
Question. What are a few stores that are owned by Ross?
Ross owns its own “Ross Dress for Less” stores and dd’s discounts store. DD’s was officially inaugurated in 2004 under the banner of Ross Stores Inc. Though the former performs as a stand-alone brand selling their products, DD’s is a subsidiary of Ross Inc. At present, the company runs as many as 1500 “Ross Dress for Less” stores and 260 dd’s discounts stores operating in the US alone.
Question. Which among the two is the bigger company?
Ross is bigger than Burlington in terms of the number of locations, the number of employees hired, revenue generated, and annual sales. Thus, we can see that Ross is the bigger company among the two in almost every important aspect of comparison.
