READ THIS NEXT: Walmart and Target Have a Secret Hiding Spot for Clearance Items. In 2023, shoppers can expect to see redesigned Five Below stores. According to statements made by CEO Joel Anderson at the 2023 ICR Conference on Jan. 9, 400 stores will be converted to its higher-priced Five Beyond store format this year, Retail Dive reported. This concept was rolled out at approximately 250 Five Below stores in 2022, which now sell items “beyond $5 and still way below the rest,” the retailer’s website states. Per Retail Dive, Anderson noted that customers have responded positively to the Five Beyond format—and they spend twice as much. “It’s not just about new stores opening this way, it’s about taking the existing fleet and converting it,” Anderson said (via Retail Dive). “We see an immediate lift the week after we change it.” Five Beyond stemmed from “Ten Below” concept, starting out as just a shelf in Five Below stores, according to Retail Dive. Now, it’s a full-blown store-within-a-store. Online, featured Five Beyond products range in price from $8 up to $25, with a skateboard, a Bluetooth speaker and tripod stand, and an adjustable barbell and dumbbell set among the pricier picks. On a Dec. 1 episode of CNBC’s Mad Money, Anderson also showed a Roomba-style vacuum cleaner that’s part of the Five Beyond line, retailing for $25 Anderson explained that the company “still believes in Five Below,” but both store concepts are centered around value. “That’s what we’re focused on delivering,” he said during the interview. RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. While shoppers will find more expensive items in stores, they’ll also see more stores in general. Five Below plans to open over 200 new stores by Jan. 24, Retail TouchPoints reported, keeping pace with plans to open 1,000 new stores by 2025. The retailer is also expanding assisted self-checkouts, which are already available in 70 percent of Five Below locations, per Retail Dive. According to Seeking Alpha, having the assisted self-checkout option allows associates to spend less time behind the register and more time on the floor helping customers, and CFO Ken Bull confirmed that it helps when lines are long. By 2025, the retailer plans to have self-checkout in place at all locations. According to Retail TouchPoints, Five Below saw a spike in net sales during the holidays, rising over $1 billion between Oct. 30, 2022, and Jan. 7, 2023.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb “We are pleased with our holiday performance, with results in the upper end of our fourth quarter sales guidance range,” Anderson said in a statement to the outlet. The CEO attributed this success to strategic marketing and diverse merchandise across its “eight worlds,” which are essentially its departments: Tech, Create, Play, Candy, Room, Style, Party, and New & Now. Moving forward, the retailer only expects things to improve. “Given this holiday performance, we now expect to finish the fourth quarter and full year near the high end of our previously provided guidance ranges,” Anderson said.
