Five Below Inc. is a publicly held American chain of specialty discount stores that sells products that cost up to $5, plus a small assortment of products from $6 to $10. Founded by Tom Vellios and David Schlessinger and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the chain is aimed at tweens and teens. There are 900 stores located across the United States.
Products and supplies
All products fall into the Five Below departments: New&Now, Create, Play, Candy, Room, Style, Party, and Ten Below Tech.
History
David Schlessinger, founder of Encore Books and Zany Brainy, and Tom Vellios, former CEO of Zany Brainy founded Five Below. In 2017, Five Below’s tagline of “hot stuff. cool prices.” changed to “let go & have fun!” In 2020, all of the stores temporarily shut down because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Growth and expansion
To date, Five Below operates 900 stores in 38 states, employing over 90,000 associates along with two distribution centres. It began its outward expansion away from the Philadelphia Metro area by entering the Illinois and Michigan markets in 2011; Georgia, Kansas, Missouri and Western Michigan in 2012; Texas in 2013; Tennessee in 2014; Alabama, Florida and Kentucky in 2015; Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wisconsin in 2016, California in 2017 & Arkansas in 2018. Five Below in 2019 publicly stated that they could build as many as 2,500 U.S. stores in the future. Arizona, Iowa & Nebraska were introduced that year. Colorado & Nevada were added in 2020. New Mexico, Oregon, Utah & Washington will see their stores open in the near future. In September 2014, the company announced a new lease agreement to move its New Castle, Delaware, distribution center to Oldmans Township, New Jersey. The new center would add 275 jobs to the local economy while Delaware would lose 175. On July 19, 2012, Five Below went public on the NASDAQ at the share price of $17. In 2014, Joel Anderson was appointed CEO. 2016 sales hit $1,000 million, 2017 sales hit $1,300 million and 2018 sales hit $1,560 million.
Store experience
An average Five Below store size is 8,000 sq. ft., and each encompasses a full “treasure hunt” shopping experience. Five Below highlights the actual store experience over the necessity of shopping. “It’s being swept-up in unpredictability that’s key: surprise mixed with affordability,” said David Makuen, executive vice president of marketing and strategy. Five Below stores are designed to include loud music, animated store associates and copious colorful merchandise make up Five Below stores. “If you spend time in a dollar store or mass merchant like Target or Walmart, it’s not really about letting go because you’re there to meet your needs,” said Makuen. “Our purpose is really simple: We want customers to be able to let go and have fun.” Five Below calls their store associates “The Wow Crew.” In 2016, Five Below launched FiveBelow.com, which consisted of an edited, curated assortment of products. Today, Five Below sells thousands of products online.
Corporate affairs
Headquarters
In 2018, Five Below moved its corporate headquarters, now called WowTown, to the Lit Brothers Building in the Market East section of Philadelphia, PA, and has rights to more than 200,000 square feet. WowTown has over 300 employees.
Philanthropy
Since 2005, Five Below has contributed over $19 million for organizations around the country who focus on the well-being of children. They have partnered with and supported Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation with the sale of lemonade bracelets, gift cards and pin-ups. Since 2008, Five Below has participated in the annual Halloween Promotion benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. After Hurricane Sandy, Five Below partnered with the American Red Cross and collected over $50,000 through a $1 donation at the register program. The company then doubled all donations resulting in a donation in the total of $100,000. In 2018, Five Below became an official Toys for Tots sponsor.
