Lawrence’s latest retail chain store is about to make its debut.

Officials with Ross Dress for Less have confirmed that they will hold their grand opening celebration at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The store is going into the location at 3234 Iowa Street that previously was occupied by Old Navy. In other words, it will be in the building right next to Kohl’s department store near 33rd and Iowa.

It looks to me, though, that shoppers will get their first chance at the new retailer on Friday. I drove by the location yesterday. (I bought a $4 tie at Kohl’s after a Sertoma club luncheon created a battle between some pasta salad and the tie I wore to the event. The pasta salad won.) There was a sign on the Ross building that said the store was opening Friday.

I never have been successful in actually talking with a Ross official on the phone, so I don’t know much about why the retailer chose to come to the Lawrence market or why it took it almost a year to open the store once it filed its plans with City Hall.

But they are here now, and according to a release from the company, this will be its third new store in the “Kansas City area” since October 2012. It is opening 20 other stores, in addition to the Lawrence store, this week. Overall, the company has about 1,000 stores across the country, and it bills itself as the “nation’s largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain.”

I don’t know exactly what that means, other than I can probably expect to see a new addition to my monthly credit card bill. But according to the company’s Web site, it carries a large line of women’s clothing, in addition to some clothing or men and children, plus some shoes, accessories and home decor items.

We’ll see whether it carries $4 ties because I’m pretty sure my battles with pasta salad aren’t done. Or with BBQ sauce or with grape jelly or with chocolate pudding or with . . .