Who Owns Five Below?

David Schlessinger and Tom Vellios opened the first Five Below in the greater Philadelphia area in 2002. The concept targeted tweens and teens with trend merchandise priced at $5 or less, a hard price ceiling that defined the brand and its name.

The chain grew steadily through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic before going public on NASDAQ in July 2012. The IPO funded national expansion, and the store count compounded from a few hundred units to more than 1,500 by 2023.

Merchandise organized into "worlds," Candy, Style, Party, Room, Create, Tech, Sports, and New & Now, lets buyers chase trends quickly. The formula proved durable through the toy industry's shifts, surviving the Toys R Us collapse and the pandemic-era boom in kid and teen spending.

After a rare comparable sales decline in fiscal 2024, the company rebounded sharply: fiscal 2025 delivered $4.76 billion in net sales, up 22.9%, with comparable sales up 12.8% and net income of $358.6 million. New CEO Winnie Park pushed a renewed focus on product newness and value perception, including an expanded "Five Beyond" assortment above the $5 line.

As of November 2026, Five Below operates more than 2,000 stores in 47 states and plans roughly 150 openings per year toward a long-term target above 3,500 US locations.