Five Below ramps up store growth in 2020, revises Q4 outlook

New store openings will remain a priority for Five Below this year. 

The tween and teen value-oriented retailer reported Monday that it will open 180 new stores in 2020, up from roughly 150 locations in fiscal 2019.  The expansion for 2020 translates to 20% unit growth, according to Five Below, which currently has 900 stores in 36 states.

Five Below plans to add a Ten Below zone in the majority of its new stores as well as its remodels. The department, as previously reported https://chainstoreage.com/five-below-isnt-all-anymore-some-prices-rise, marks a break from the retailer's designed price strategy (everything priced at $5 and under) by featuring goods priced from $6 to $10.

The company also announced that it has acquired the e-commerce platform, fulfillment operation and certain other assets of Hollar.com in a move to expand its digital capabilities. 

Five Below reported that its sales for the holiday period (November 3, 2019 through January 4, 2020) rose 13.4% to $596.6 million from $526.1 million. Same-store    sales decreased by 2.6%. The company cited the "headwind" of six fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Based on this decline, Five Below revised its fourth-quarter sales outlook to range from $685 million to $688 million, and expects same-store sales to decrease 2.0% to 2.5%. Earnings per share will range from $1.93 to $1.96.

The company also updated its full-year guidance with net sales of $1.845 billion to $1.848 billion, or growth of 18.3% to 18.5%. It expects a same-store sales increase of 0.5% to 0.7%, and earnings will be $3.07 to $3.10, or growth of 15.4% to 16.5%.

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