Ross Stores Inc., of Newark, Calif., plans to open a 30,000-square-foot Ross Dress for Less discount clothing store in the Spokane Valley Plaza, which is located on the east side of Sullivan Road between Broadway Avenue and Interstate 90.


David Paperd, a sales and leasing agent with Spokane-based Summit Property Development, says Ross Stores has signed a lease for a building that will be constructed just east of a new 24,000-square-foot building where a Michaels arts, crafts, and home dcor store opened recently. Summit handles the real estate interests of Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., also of Spokane, which owns the 34-acre shopping center.


A spokeswoman for Ross Stores declined to comment on the matter until she could confirm that a lease has been signed. However, Paperd says construction of the store is getting under way now and is expected to be completed by mid-September. Russell Page, of Spokane, is the project architect, and Vandervert Construction Inc., also of Spokane, is the general contractor.


Ross Stores operates one other Ross Dress for Less store here, a 20,000-square-foot outlet in the Franklin Park Mall on Spokanes North Side. That store opened about seven years ago.


Ross Dress for Less stores sell clothing, accessories, and shoes for men, women, and children at prices the company claims are generally 20 percent to 60 percent below the prices found in department or specialty stores. Although apparel accounts for about 70 percent of sales, the stores also sell housewares, sporting goods, consumer electronics, toys, luggage, and gourmet foods.


Ross Stores operates more than 350 stores in 17 states, mostly on the West and East Coasts. Thirteen of those stores are located in Washington state, of which all but the lone Spokane store are located west of the Cascades.


The Ross Dress for Less store will be the fourth retail outlet to open in the Spokane Valley Plaza. Summit is continuing to negotiate with other prospective tenants for the center, Paperd says.