Five Below will open 170 stores over the next nine months, bringing its total to more than 1,200 locations, according to Knox Pages. The effort kicked off with 11 stores across Ohio, Maryland, Florida, Texas, New York and Mississippi in the first week of February, with more grand openings slated for every weekend through November 2021.
All stores will follow CDC-recommended health and safety protocols, including mandatory masks and regular sanitization. They will also put an emphasis on “bringing fun” during their opening ceremonies and general operations with an environment that appeals to local youth.
Five Below’s expansion builds on a successful holiday season. The retailer reported a 21.1% year-over-year net sales increase to $722.3 million for the nine weeks ending Jan. 4, 2021. Comparable sales for the period rose 10.1%.
“We are very pleased with our holiday sales performance, which surpassed our expectations,” said Joel Anderson, President and CEO of Five Below in a statement. “These strong results illustrate the broad appeal of our Wow offering at amazing values as well as the inherent flexibility of our model and merchandise offering. We featured extreme value products, as well as Wow gifts in our expanded Five Beyond offering, all of which resonated with customers.”
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The company expects a strong finish to fiscal 2020 overall, with net sales growth of 5.0% to 5.2% despite a comparable sales decrease of approximately 6.5%.
