This chain hailed by Wall Street as a 'retail treasure' is the most disastrous store we've ever seen

Business Insider/Hayley PetersonRoss Stores has been deemed a "retail treasure" and a "rarity" by Morgan Stanley analysts for its strong sales and earnings growth at a time of widespread distress in the industry.

The discount chain last week reported same-store sales growth of 3%, which was driven by higher traffic and increases in how much customers are spending per transaction.

Ross also reported better-than-expected earnings of $321 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, versus the $290.6 million, or $0.73 per diluted share that analysts had predicted.

We went to a Ross store in Richmond, Virginia, to see how this "treasure" is luring so many customers when department stores are seeing sales and traffic plunge.

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