Founders of Ross Stores, Moldaw and Ferber continued to refine Ross’s merchandising strategy as the 1980s progressed. The company introduced to its 140 stores full cosmetic and fragrance departments staffed with beauty consultants, one of the new and decidedly upscale features adopted by Ross as it re-positioned itself for consistent profitability. In the chasm separating discount stores and traditional department stores, off-price retailers occupied the middle ground, but as the 1990s neared Moldaw and Ferber were tipping the balance toward the department store end of the scale by adopting the trappings of more upscale retail outlets. Like many off-price chains, Ross had never divided, or “departmentalized” its retail floor space into merchandise