Five Below
Type | Public company |
---|---|
Industry | Discount store |
Founded | October 4, 2002 |
Founders | David Schlessinger, Tom Vellios |
Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , United States |
Number of locations |
|
Area served | United States—40 states |
Key people | Joel D. Anderson (CEO) |
Products | sports, games, fashion accessories, bath and body, candy and beverages, room décor and storage, stationery and school supplies, books, smartphone accessories, novelty and gag items, seasonal items |
Revenue | US$2.848 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) |
US$379.880 Million (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) | |
US$278.810 Million (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) | |
Total assets | US$2.880 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) |
Total equity | US$1.120 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) |
Number of employees | over 14,000 |
Website | fivebelow |
Five Below Inc. (stylized as fiVe BEL°W) is an American chain of specialty discount stores that sells products that are less than $5, plus a small assortment of products from $6 to $25. Founded by Tom Vellios and David Schlessinger and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the chain is aimed at tweens and teens. There are over 1,100 stores located across the United States.
History
David Schlessinger, founder of Encore Books and Zany Brainy, and Tom Vellios, former CEO of Zany Brainy founded Five Below on October 4, 2002.
On March 18, 2020, Five Below announced the temporary closing of all stores due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, as of May 29, 2020, 75% of Five Below stores across the United States reopened with plans for new stores to open up.
Growth and expansion
To date, Five Below operates over 1,100 stores in 40 states, employing over 90,000 associates along with two distribution centers. 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 and 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 and Nebraska were introduced that year. Colorado and Nevada were added in 2020; New Mexico and Utah in 2021. Oregon and Washington will also see stores open in the 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 format
The average Five Below store size is 8,000 square feet (740 m2). The store specializes mainly in carrying a wide variety of merchandise at a low price.
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.