A view of the Five Below logo on a wall above an escalator in the store.
Five Below.
  • Five Below is a discount specialty chain that has 1,400 locations across the US.
  • I decided to visit the closest one to my home in New York City.
  • I gave myself a budget of $50 and was pleasantly surprised to have spent less.

Five Below was founded in 2002 in Wayne, Pennsylvania, as a kids' store, but it has since expanded to offer hundreds of different items.

And it has expanded rapidly. By 2008, there were 100 stores. In 2016, sales reached $1 billion, according to the brand's website.

In 2022, the chain opened its 1,200th store, and in early 2023, it announced plans to open 200 more stores this year for a total of 1,540 stores in the US.