Company type | Public |
---|---|
Industry | Discount store |
Founded | October 4, 2002 Wayne, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Founders | David Schlessinger, Tom Vellios |
Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , United States |
Number of locations | |
Area served | United States—43 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) [4] |
US$379.880 million (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) [4] | |
US$278.810 million (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) [4] | |
Total assets | US$2.880 billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) [4] |
Total equity | US$1.120 billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 29, 2022) [4] |
Number of employees | over 15,000 |
Website | fivebelow |
Five Below, Inc. is an American chain of specialty discount stores that prices most of its products at $5 or less, plus a smaller assortment of products priced up to $25. [5] Founded by Tom Vellios and David Schlessinger and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the chain is aimed at tweens and teens. [3] There are over 1,400 stores located across the United States. [3]
David Schlessinger, founder of Encore Books and Zany Brainy, and Tom Vellios, former CEO of Zany Brainy, founded Five Below on October 4, 2002 in Wayne, Pennsylvania. [6]
On March 18, 2020, Five Below announced the temporary closing of all stores due to the COVID-19 outbreak. [pr 1] However, as of May 29, 2020, 75% of Five Below stores across the United States reopened with plans for new stores to open up. [pr 2]
As of the 2020s, Five Below operates over 1,400 [7] stores in 44 states, [8] [9] [10] employing over 90,000 associates along with two distribution centers. It began its outward expansion away from the Philadelphia Metro area by entering additional out-of-state markets: Illinois and Michigan in 2011; [pr 3] Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, and Western Michigan in 2012; [pr 4] Texas in 2013; [11] Tennessee in 2014; Alabama, Florida, and Kentucky [12] in 2015; Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wisconsin in 2016; [13] California in 2017; and Arkansas in 2018. Five Below in 2019 publicly [14] 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. Both Dakotas had opened new stores in 2022. Vermont joined in the next year. Oregon and Washington are to open later. [15]
In September 2014, the company announced a new lease agreement to move its New Castle, Delaware, distribution center to Oldmans Township, New Jersey. [pr 5] The new center would add 275 jobs to the local economy while Delaware would lose 175. [16]
On July 19, 2012, Five Below went public on the NASDAQ at the share price of $17. [17] In 2014, Joel Anderson was appointed CEO. [18] 2016 sales were $1 billion, 2017 sales were $1.3 billion, and 2022 sales reached $3.08 billion. [19] [20]
The average Five Below store size is 8,000 square feet (740 m2). [21] [22] The store specializes mainly in carrying a wide variety of merchandise at a low price. [23]
In 2018, Five Below moved its corporate headquarters, now called WowTown, [24] to the Lit Brothers Building in the Market East section of Philadelphia, and has rights to more than 200,000 square feet. WowTown has over 300 employees.[ citation needed ]
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. [25]
Since 2008, Five Below has participated in the annual Halloween Promotion benefiting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. [26]
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. [27]
In 2018, Five Below became an official Toys for Tots sponsor. [28]
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