Five Below is opening a new store on the road I drive on every week. My life may never be the same.
Four years ago, our then 15-year-old asked if we could check out a store his friends had told him about. Long story short, I agreed and we left after buying a couple of things (all at or under $5, per the chain's name). At the time, I thought that was the end of it. It wasn't, because we also had our then three-and-half-year-old with us. For her, Five Below had become a magical place. In the ensuing years, she has never seen a Five Below sign without asking if we can go in. She's been disappointed many times more often than not, but the requests persist.
Speaking with other parents with kids in elementary school, I've learned their children also suffer from various degrees of Five Below fever. While it may be an inconvenience for me, it's a great sign for the chain's business.
![[Image: Five Below]](/public/images/discussions/18337/five-below-still.jpg)
Five Below, which bills itself as an "extreme-value retailer catering to pre-teens, teens and beyond," recently opened its 400th store and has sights set on reaching 2,000 under CEO Joel Anderson. The chain opened 62 stores last year, and plans to add another 70 this year and 85 in 2016. Just yesterday, the chain announced it is opening its first stores in Florida.
Five Below groups products within eight "in-store worlds": candy, crafts, party, room, sports, style, tech and now.
Mr. Anderson, who was named CEO last December, recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer that technology accessories are among the chain's strongest sellers. "Kids change out their [phone] cases like apparel, like their socks," he said.
The company recently reported a net sales increase of 22 percent for the latest quarter, while comp store sales improved 1.7 percent for the period.