Five Below Adds CMO as More Shopping Journeys Start Online

Five Below has added a chief marketing officer (CMO) to promote the products it has added since beginning a reset of its business and to meet customers where they are: online.

Five Below CEO Winnie Park announced the addition Wednesday (March 19) during the company’s quarterly earnings call, saying the company had not had a CMO for a while.

The company aims to build brand awareness, let existing and new customers know about what it offers, and expand on its existing efforts with creators and social media, which have been well received.

“Customers are increasingly starting their shopping journeys online,” Park said. “They’re discovering what is hot and new on social media, and we need to meet our customers where they are.”

This move comes at a time when Five Below is focusing on “product, value and store experience” as it continues the reset of the business it began eight months ago, Park said.

The retailer is seeing positive results and is doubling down on the strategy because it sees attractive opportunities for growth, she said.

Park, who joined Five Below three months ago, said she discovered the retailer a decade ago when, as a customer, she visited one of its stores with her young daughter and left with bags of “amazing items,” including phone cases, nail polish, plushies and craft kits, while spending less than $20.

“Today I have a great appreciation of how we work behind the scenes to deliver that ‘wow’ customer experience,” Park said. “And I have even more conviction that Five Below has a very relevant, unique and valuable place in today’s retail landscape.”

The key, she said, is offering “fresh, trend right products at great value in stores that are accessible, bright and fun.”

The retailer is focusing on keeping its product assortments fresh so that customers can enjoy a “treasure hunt” experience while shopping, Park said. It’s also focusing on its core items that are $5 or less, together with some key items that are highly curated and deliver “extreme value” at over $5.

Five Below Chief Operating Officer Ken Bull said during the call that since launching its reset at the end of the first half of 2024, Five Below has seen sales and adjusted earnings per share exceed the high end of its guidance.

Five Below is also dealing with the newly imposed tariffs. Sixty percent of the company’s total cost of goods are imported from China, either directly or through its domestic vendors, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Kristy Chipman said during the call.

“We are dealing with the tariffs that are in place today and our mitigation initiatives are well underway,” Chipman said. “These initiatives include vendor collaboration, selective price adjustments primarily within our $1 to $5 price points, diversification of sourcing and increasing our focus on product newness.”