The complete Super Bowl 60 ad tracker for 2026

In under two months, discount retailer Ross Stores has opened 40 new stores.  The company launched 36 Ross Dress for Less and four DD’s Discounts stores in 17 states in September and October. The openings complete the retailer’s growth plans for fiscal 2025, adding a total of 90 stores in the time period, according to a company press release. The brick-and-mortar expansion brought additional Ross Dress for Less locations to the Midwest and Northeast, with new stores in Michigan, New Jersey and New York, according to Richard Lietz, executive vice president of property development. DD’s expanded its footprint in the company’s core markets of California and Texas.  In its latest quarter, total sales increased 5% year over year to $5.5 billion, while comparable store sales increased 2%. Net income dropped 3.6% in Q2 to nearly $508 million.

As consumers grapple with inflation, tariff uncertainty and a difficult macro-economic environment, they are prioritizing cost over brand loyalty. The overwhelming majority (77%) of consumers are actively changing their purchase behavior in response to price increases, according to EY’s “Future Consumer Index,” which surveyed more than 20,000 consumers across 26 countries. Slightly more than a third (34%) no longer consider brands when making purchasing decisions, with 54% of respondents only buying branded products when they are on sale. The increasing adoption of private label products is reshaping consumer perception, making store brands the preferred alternative to traditional branded options — 67% say private label satisfies their needs just as well as branded products. Thirty percent of respondents say they no longer consider brands at all when making purchasing decisions.

See the latest news from USPS by following Midland's Matt Jensen on LinkedIn. An awesome one sheet outlines all 2026 core and add-on promotions, including some thoughts (bottom-right quadrant) on…