Five Below (FIVE) Oppenheimer's 24th Annual Virtual Consumer Growth and E-Commerce Conference summary

Growth strategy and long-term outlook

• Emphasizes a robust new store pipeline and ongoing Five Beyond expansion, targeting 80% penetration by year-end.

• Maintains focus on positive comparable store growth and a debt-free balance sheet, enabling flexibility for long-term decisions.

• Sees long-term growth trajectory as solid, with continued pursuit of expansion and operational improvements.

Short-term challenges and operational responses

• Addressing shrink through a shift from self-checkout to associate-led checkout, with early positive results.

• Responding to a sudden consumer pullback in Q1 by playing offense and expecting improvement as back-to-school season approaches.

• Actively testing pricing, marketing, and labor investments to determine drivers of recent sales softness.

Merchandising trends and traffic drivers

• Trends and licensed products fluctuate, with recent headwinds from a lack of strong licenses and trends like Squishmallows.

• Event-driven Now section and seasonal periods (back to school, Halloween, holiday) are key traffic drivers.

• Merchandising pipeline for upcoming seasons is strong, with a focus on value messaging.