Ross Dress for Less in Downtown San Diego, California

Ross is a discounted retailing franchise that specialized in clothing, bed, bath, and kitchen items.

The Ross store in downtown is located on the north side of the trolley line at C Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. Those who are familiar with the area would already cringe at the location... It is two blocks north of Horton Plaza, in that shady area that is safe enough during the day but looks sort of like Gotham City's back alley after dark. It is also frequented by much of downtown's homeless population, and so there's always a lot of trash and stuff littered about... And it also seems to mean that the merchandise get shuffled and misplaced a lot (if you are looking for one of those discounted stuff like package of 6 socks and the likes, be sure to check the package you pick up before paying for it). There is a security guard hanging by the door there but he doesn't really patrol the store at all.

The facility is a big-ish and rather poorly organized two stories facility. You walk in from the street to find the store's top level and its not very well stocked women's clothing and accessories items (the fitting rooms are on the left end of the store). Taking either of the cargo-style elevators or the stair down one level and you'll walk into a more filled-out floor. The store's meager inventory of men's clothing items and accessories are to the left, bed/bath/kitchen items in the center, and more women's clothing and a very ill stocked children's section on the right.

Shopping for clothes here is really very much luck-based if you are small or thin... or a kid. Men's shoes are only available from size 7 ½ and up (and you really get wretched choices of style for sizes 7 ½ - 8 ½). And when it comes to shirts and pants, they just don't seem to enjoy stocking size S items (if you are looking for dress shirts, you don't need to bother stopping by here at all... The last one was sold back in the days when mammoths walked the earth and when ferns were the size of the oak trees). The same story goes for children's clothing. There are some good socks to be had for cheap here, though.

Occasionally you do get some good deals in the bed & bath section (I bought my very nice set of bed comforter and 2 pillow cases last November for only $12)... But, the store is so chronically understocked that I have never seen it even close to being halfway busy even in this slow economy (buying clothing at other retailers in downtown would cost more than here... Though the catch is, of course, that you might not find anything here that you'd want to buy to begin with).

Service... Once you get to one of the cashiers, the service is ok. Getting there, though, can be a bit tricky. I don't know which architect Ross hired to design the interior of this place, but the dude must have flunked out his traffic-management lesson. You can arrive at the long counter where the cashiers are from two opposite direction, so what does the store do? It places this one rope barrier parallel to the counters, and no sign anywhere saying where the head of the line is. So people end up lining up at both end and losing count of which person at which end arrived to the line first.

It's been like that ever since my first visit to the store over a year ago and it has not changed. That's the sort of learning curve you're dealing with. This Ross store in downtown deserves to flunk the survival of the fittest test. It is just taking the customers for granted.

So... my verdict is; if you are in downtown area and need to shop for clothing items but don't want to pay the Nordstrom price (or higher). Get an MTS $5 one day bus/trolley pass and take the Blue line to Old Town, then the Green line to Fashion Valley Transit Center where there are many good stores for your every needs. Or you can catch bus #20 from Broadway & 10th Avenue to Kearny Mesa Transit Center (Complex), then take bus #27 to the Convoy St stop where you'll find a well stocked and very reasonable priced Sears. It takes more effort and time, but you'll at least have a very good chance of finding the clothing items you're needing to buy and for more than $5 below what you'll have to pay at the better shopping malls in downtown.

Ross: 428 C Street (between 4th and 5th), San Diego, CA 92101. Tel (619) 231-7154. Website: www.rossstores.com
Opens daily. Major credit cards accepted.