Five Below will triple its store count over the next eight years, the kid-friendly discount chain said during its Investors Day presentation Wednesday (March 30).
Speaking to investors, President and CEO Joel Anderson said Five Below will add 1,000 stores in the U.S., including 375 to 400 slated to open over the next two fiscal years.
The company is calling this its “Triple-Double” vision, a plan that aims to have the company grow to more than 3,500 stores by the end of fiscal 2030, and to double its sales — and more than double its earnings per share (EPS) — by the end of fiscal 2025.
This follows a five-year period of expansion that saw Five Below open 583 stores from fiscal 2016 to 2020 — doubling its store count.
Read more: Five Below’s Future Looks Strong With New Store Openings
“We were very pleased with our fourth quarter results that capped off a record year,” Anderson said. “We delivered sales growth in line with our expectations against the difficult comparison to last year's stimulus-fueled comparable sales increase of 13.8%, and despite the impact of weather in January.”
Anderson added that the sales strength was “broad-based,” with Five Below’s sports, candy, style and seasonal products exceeding expectations.
According to a company press release, Five Below’s net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 are expected to be between $644 million and $658 million, based on the launch of 35 new stores and “assuming an approximate flat to 2% decrease in comparable sales.”
See also: Five Below Continues Store Count Growth as Sales Rise
For the full year of fiscal 2022, those sales are expected to range from $3.16 billion to $3.26 billion, based on the opening of about 160 new locations and “an approximate flat to 3% increase in comparable sales,” the company said.
Five Below said this “reflects pandemic driven delays in construction and permitting that have resulted in a shift of stores into the second half of fiscal 2022 and the first half of fiscal 2023, and ongoing inflationary impacts.”
