- I went to Five Below for some last-minute holiday shopping.
- I was surprised to find that many items didn't live up to the store's name.
- But Five Below is still affordable and a good spot for cute trinkets.
When you walk into Five Below, you expect things to be below $5. It's right there in the name. Still, that's not entirely true anymore.
I stopped by Five Below, a discount chain with hundreds of stores across the US, for some late-in-the-game presents earlier this month, since I had very good luck visiting in 2023 with a budget of $50.
Still, I was surprised to find that prices across the board seemed to have increased after a tough holiday season last year, a move Five Below has attributed to tariffs and higher sourcing costs.
As The Street reported, tariffs have had a significant impact on Five Below's business, as 60% of its products are sourced from China. The brand said it was making "selective price adjustments" to combat this, as well as scaling back on items that weren't focused on the brand's core customer base of teens and tweens, like luggage.
Even though there's been price increases, the move has positively affected its business. After sales were down 3%, according to an earnings call in March, the company's stock is up 85% year to date as of mid-December.
Here's what it was like to visit Five Below this holiday season.
Five Below did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
After a couple of years away, I returned to Five Below to do some holiday shopping.
It's not my first time visiting Five Below during the holiday season. I went holiday shopping there in December 2023. I've also tried to save money on dupes at Five Below in March 2024, so you could call me something of a store expert.
I went to a different location this time, so instead of descending into a basement, this store was on the second floor of a building.
Many stores in New York City take up multiple floors because of limited real estate, like Party City, T.J. Maxx, and Marshalls.
I was greeted with the same holiday "snacktivities," like $4 gingerbread houses.
All of the Five Below locations I've visited have offered some form of these edible crafts or activities, such as gingerbread houses or hot chocolate bombs.
But almost immediately, I noticed some of the stocking stuffers were slightly pricier than I remembered.
I was genuinely surprised when some of the first things I saw were priced at $6 or $7, in addition to the classic $5-and-under stuff.
There used to be a designated section for things priced above $5. That's not the case anymore.
That section used to be called Five Beyond. I didn't even see one section like that in this store, since things that cost more than $5 were scattered throughout the store.
In March, Five Below CEO Winnie Park said on an earnings call that the brand was "raising the bar on adding value to our highly edited assortment of product above $5," Men's Journal reported that month.
She also said that tariffs were significantly affecting things, as "60% of our total cost of goods are imported from China."
Wrapping paper, a holiday essential, was priced at $5. But in previous years, some wrapping paper at Five Below retailed at just $1.
It's still pretty cheap, but I couldn't help but remember that I scooped up five rolls of wrapping paper for $5 in years past. That would cost me $25 now.
There was more holiday decor and goodies throughout the store, like this pajama selection.
I noticed more signs advertising "two for $10" deals that I didn't remember from prior visits.
But most of the store consisted of licensed products, which felt like a change.
I didn't remember seeing this much licensed merch outside a graphic T-shirt display.
Everything in this display was more than $5.
And with licensing came higher prices. I couldn't believe I saw a $35 "Wicked: For Good" figurine.
The "Wicked" tie-ins have been extensive over the last two years, so it didn't surprise me to see a "Wicked: For Good" corner. What surprised me were the prices.
While there were a few items priced at $5, most of the products on display were priced between $10 and $35.
Even some of the smaller stuff costs $10, like these Funko-esque figurines.
Any "Wicked" fan should stop in here. There were branded backpacks, lotions, hand sanitizers, toys, accessories, bath bombs, tech accessories, and more.
Stitch, Pac-Man, Shrek, and "Minecraft" characters plushies were all $7.
Anecdotally, it seems like Stitch is Disney's most popular character ever. I can't walk into a store like this without seeing that blue guy — not even Primark is safe.
Even the official Squishmallows were over $5.
The last time I went shopping here in 2024, I found cheaper Squishmallow dupes.
But no Five Below is complete without its dupes. I wasn't surprised at all to see the brand release its own Labubus.
For those who have somehow missed the Labubu craze, these are small furry plushies sold by the Chinese brand Pop Mart. Some estimates projected revenue to reach $1 billion by 2025.
Still, not even the "Lafufus" were immune to price increases.
Fake Labubus (of which there are many) are known as "Lafufus." At Five Below, they too were above $5, priced at one dollar more.
One of the biggest and most crowded areas at this store was the beauty section.
With younger kids becoming increasingly interested in skincare and makeup, having a more affordable alternative to expensive brands is beneficial. Despite price increases in many corners of this store, the price remained at $5 in the beauty section.
Once again, dupes were everywhere. Doesn't this look like a Summer Fridays gift set?
Summer Fridays is a skincare brand known for its viral lip balm, which costs $24.
Or perhaps you're interested in Touchland mists, but don't want to spend upward of $10.
Touchland is a TikTok favorite, but it's expensive.
I had to do a double take because this looks nearly identical to Sol de Janeiro's brand of lotion.
Sol de Janeiro's original cream costs $48, while a cheaper Costco dupe is priced at $22. This one is even cheaper at $5.
These were seemingly modeled after Tower 28.
Tower 28 is another popular beauty brand sold at Sephora, which is on the more affordable side. However, Five Below's prices here can't be beat.
And these products looked like Drunk Elephant.
Drunk Elephant sells a jelly cleanser for $36. This one is $5.
I moved on to the clothing and accessories section. Most of these socks were around $5.
I don't really understand how one pair of socks is $5 and a 10-pack is $6, but I'm not mad at it.
These Ugg-inspired slippers were $7.
These are still quite affordable, but I need to reiterate: this store's whole deal used to be that almost everything was cheaper than $5.
The water bottle section is always busy at Five Below. I spotted some wannabe Stanleys and Owalas for $7.
The water bottle wars have seemed to quiet down recently, but the inventory at Five Below was large and varied.
The exercise equipment at Five Below is usually slightly more expensive, but it used to cap at $6, not anymore.
I double-checked the prices in 2023: All of the weights were $5.95, which I noted made them the most expensive item I saw outside the Five Beyond section.
Now, the weights are $8, and that's nowhere near being the most expensive item I saw during my recent visit.
There's always tons of tech at Five Below — but you can probably guess what I'm going to say.
Stop me if you've heard this before: Prices were up. Headphones and earbuds were priced between $6 and $10.
Phone cases were $7.
Screen protectors were $5 though.
If I had come in here expecting everything to be, well, below $5, I would've been disappointed.
The candy section seemed to be the only area unaffected by price increases.
For whatever reason, candy prices didn't seem to be affected. Everything in this section was between $3 and $5.
Overall, Five Below is still an affordable place to shop for last-minute gifts and stocking stuffers, but it's no longer entirely living up to its name.
This Lego set dupe was $20. That's still quite a bit lower than a real Lego set, which usually starts at $50 and can reach hundreds of dollars.
To be clear: Five Below is still affordable, and a great place to shop for cute trinkets. However, you can no longer expect everything to be less than $5.
While there are still plenty of items for purchase in that price range, it's no longer unexpected to see items priced at $8, $10, or $20.
Five Below is still affordable, but when I visited, the name feels more like a suggestion than a promise.
