Five Below Continues Store Count Growth as Sales Rise

Five Below added 34 new stores across 19 states in the second quarter amid growth in sales, as millennials and bridge millennials struggle to pay bills despite healthy paychecks.

Five Below ended the second quarter with 1,121 locations in 39 U.S. states. That’s up 14.2% from the same time in 2020; in the first half of the year, Five Below has opened 102 new stores.

The company’s second-quarter net sales were $646.6 million, up 51.7% in the second quarter of fiscal 2021 compared to the same time a year earlier, and up 54.9% from the second quarter of 2019. Comparable sales for Five Below jumped 39.2% in Q2 of 2021 versus the same time a year ago, although the increase was only 21% compared to 2019.

“We had another strong quarter, with the team executing well in a dynamic operating environment,” said Joel Anderson, president and CEO of Five Below, in the company announcement.

According to PYMNTS research conducted in collaboration with LendingClub, 60% of millennials in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck, compared to an average of 49% of consumers of all generational groups reporting such issues.

See more: 43M US Millennials Report Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Anderson said Five Below’s third quarter is off to a strong start from a sales perspective. “We are innovating across our three key strategic priorities: product, experience and supply chain, where the teams are working diligently to mitigate the impact of global disruptions,” he said.

Yearly net sales through July 31 for Five Below is $1.2444 billion, up 98% from $627 million the same time a year ago and up 59.1% from $782.2 million in fiscal 2019.

Related: Five Below Expands Instacart Partnership for Same-Day Delivery

Five Below in June expanded its same-day delivery collaboration with Instacart to more than 700 new locations; the partnership kicked off as a pilot in December 2020. The two firms initially rolled out the delivery service at some stores in Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Buffalo and Baltimore, as well as locations in Texas, California and Florida.