Morning Consult: Five Below, other retailers among 25 fastest-growing brands
Five Below is one of the fastest-growing brands in the U.S.
The tween and teen extreme value retailer is the No. 10 fastest-growing brand overall and the only retailer to crack the top 10 in Morning Consult’s “Fastest Growing Brands 2026” report. The study ranks the top 25 brands according to year-over-year purchasing intent. A re-launched, decades-old soda brand, Mr. Pibb, ranked No. 1.
Five Below’s purchasing consideration increased 3.2 points this year, according to the report. (The retailer recently reported that its second-quarter sales rose 22.9% to $1.26 billion.)
Whole Foods Market ranked as the fastest-growing grocery brand and also as one of the fastest-growing brands overall (No.19), with purchasing consideration increasing 2.6 points. Gap was the fastest-growing apparel brand and the 20th fastest-growing brand overall, with purchasing consideration up 2.5 points.
Walmart ranked as the fastest growing department store this year. The retailer's purchasing consideration rose by 0.6 points.
Several restaurant brands gained ground, according to the report. Drive-thru coffee chain 7 Brew ranked seventh overall, with purchasing consideration up 3.7 points. Domino’s, LongHorn Steakhouse and Panda Express also were among the top 25 brands overall.
The report also revealed that brand growth has slowed. Purchase increased for only 14% of brands in 2026, a five-year low in the company's tracking of brand standing. In contrast, 94% of brands saw their purchase consideration increase in last year's report.
Other insights from the Morning Consult report are below.
•Gen X is particularly focused on value. As the generation cut real spending by 5.9%, brands including Family Dollar, Sam’s Club, Dollar Tree, Five Below and Costco gained consideration, while premium names lost ground.
•7 Brew is the least-known brand in the top 25 and one of the only ones still introducing itself. Its awareness jumped from 33% to 43% in a single year.
•The share of U.S. adults who name AI chatbots as the online source they most commonly use to research brands, products and services has more than tripled in five quarters, from 2.6% to 9.2%, making chatbots the No. 3 research channel, following search engines and social media.
•For newer brands trying to grow, the surveys show more and more users are turning to AI tools to research new products. AI visibility is table stakes in 2026, according to the report.
Methodology
Morning Consult's brand ranking data is based on surveys conducted between May 15 and Aug. 15 in 2025 and 2026 that covered more than 2,800 brands. Purchasing consideration scores were determined by taking the share of consumers who said they're considering purchasing from a brand in 2026 and subtracting consideration from 2025.
Rankings were determined by taking each brand’s total purchasing consideration from May 15 to Aug. 15, 2026, and subtracting its consideration over the same window in 2025. Economic data comes from Morning Consult's economic tracking: the Index of Consumer Sentiment, which follows the University of Michigan's five-question methodology, and Morning Consult's monthly consumer spending survey, reported as self-reported spending per adult, adjusted for inflation and seasonality.