What’s Five Below?

If you thought the “five and dime” concept was gone, you’d be wrong. Five Below is a retail store based in Philadelphia that’s been around since 2002 but just recently invaded South Florida with five store openings. As the name suggests, every item inside this discount store is $5 or less.

On August 31, Five Below had a grand opening in the Palmetto Bay Colonial Palms Plaza (13611 South Dixie Highway). Assistant manager Jessica Herrera explains, “A lot of people compare us to Family Dollar or Dollar General, but we see ourselves as a completely different environment. You come in to our store and see nine different departments and we make sure you have fun shopping in our worlds.”

Assistant Manager Jessica Herrera shows off her departments

My visit was fun. I immediately went to the candy isle looking for Necco Wafers, the recently defunct candy. Guess what? It was there. “Yeah, we have a lot of hard to find things”, boasted Herrera.

Some items carried by the store include trading cards, sports related items, games, fashion accessories, bath and body related items, beverages, room decorations, school supplies and stationery, books, accessories for electronics, DVDs, computer software, novelty items and gag items, as well as seasonal items.

The Palmetto Bay Five Below is open Mon-Sat: 10:00a-9:00p and Sun: 10:00a-6:00p. It is certainly worth checking out, especially if you have little ones. There is also a new location at US-1 and SW 184th Street for those further south.