Specialty discount retailer Five Below plans to open 150 new stores during its 2025 fiscal year, which ends in February 2026, and it is front-loading this expansion by scheduling 50 new store openings in Q1. During its 2024 fiscal year, Five Below opened a record 228 new stores across 39 states, ending the year with 1,771 brick-and-mortar locations.
While the pace of growth will be slower this year than last, Five Below sees plenty of opportunity for the long-term expansion of its store fleet. “I think we’ve got an ongoing real estate opportunity here,” said Ken Bull, COO of Five Below on a conference call discussing the retailer’s FY 2024 financial results. “We still believe that there’s an opportunity here for 3,500 stores.”
Other discount retailers also are planning to add stores in 2025, including Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, with 75 new stores, and Ross Stores, planning an additional 90 locations. Dollar General is moving in the opposite direction despite a strong 2024 fiscal year, with plans to shutter 140 stores, but this figure represents less than 1% of its total store fleet.
While Five Below did not provide any information on where the new stores would be located, CEO Winnie Park, speaking on the conference call, said: “We have a long runway of unit growth ahead of us, including very attractive opportunities to grow our fleet by densifying existing markets and expanding into new ones like the Pacific Northwest.”
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Five Below achieved an 8.9% increase in net sales during fiscal 2024, climbing from $3.56 billion the previous year to $3.88 billion for the 12 months that ended Feb. 1, 2025. Comparable sales decreased 2.7% overall.
More Curated Assortments, Simplified Pricing on the Way
Park, who joined the retailer in December 2024 after leading now-bankrupt Forever 21 as CEO, called Five Below’s “true north” the focus on its customer. “So, who is our core customer? It’s the kid, as well as a kid inside us all,” said Park during the conference call. “We help our customers play, live, give and celebrate.
“Our vision is to be the destination for kids from elementary through high school and beyond, as well as for mom and dad,” Park added. “By focusing on the kid first, we have a unique opportunity to build a relationship with our customer from a young age and be their go-to resource as they grow and become parents themselves.”
The retailer is planning to simplify pricing, “with a focus on $1 to $5 whole price points. In addition, we will be raising the bar on adding value to our highly edited assortment of products above $5,” said Park.
She also noted that the retailer’s treasure-hunt style assortment and diversified sourcing gives it a “business model that allows us to flow new product at great value throughout the year. For example, in Q4, we chased exclusive beauty product. The customer has voted for it and we continue to build that assortment.”
Five Below executives did warn that tariffs could slow growth this coming year, but the retailer has taken actions to mitigate the effects: “In addition to the pricing adjustments and our broad vendor base, we opened a global sourcing office out of India about a year ago and we think that there’s a lot of opportunity to diversify where we source product ourselves, and that work has been well underway,” said Park.
