Maeghan Kimball is excited about the opportunity to usher young buyers into the shopping world.
Kimball was recently named co-general manger of the newest Five Below discount store location in Mount Vernon.
With the opening of the Mount Vernon Plaza location and the new Fairfax Fair City Mall store, there are 46 Five Below outlets in five states. The stores sell merchandise for under $5.
Kimball worked as an assistant manager at the Chantilly branch of the store prior to her promotion.
A graduate of West Potomac High School, Kimball attended Christopher Newport University in Newport News. She moved back to the Mount Vernon area and is thrilled to be working so close to home. She said the company encourages internal promotions. A large percentage of store managers come from within the company.
Opened just a few weeks ago, merchandise at Five Below in Alexandria is already flying off the shelves. Kimball said that the most popular items are iPod accessories, lava lamps and CD holders.
The store caters to pre-teens and teenagers. Entrepreneur David Schlessinger, creator and founder of Encore Books and Zany Brainy and Tom Vellios, came up with the retail concept and called it Five Below.
Schlessinger is a father of both a ‘tween and a teen.
"They want to spend money. There are not a lot of places where they can spend money frequently and in small amounts,” Schlessinger said. “We call their buys ‘micropurchasing’ and we know they empower kids. Plus, they are able to purchase truly great stuff.”
CALLIOPE CHILES’ MOTHER used to work at the Chantilly branch and Chiles loves shopping at Five Below. A seventh-grader at Hammond Middle School in Alexandria, she said that she usually comes in once a week because the merchandise changes so often. This past week she was excited to find a new board game, “Adventures in Neopia” for $5.
“I bought some of my sandals here, cute little monkey ones,” Chiles said. “I’ve bought balls for my dog and Game Boy games. The newest thing is the iPod skins [covers].”
Chiles referred to the selection of iPod accessories, some of which were designed specifically for Five Below.
“We’re really excited about those new signature items,” Kimball said.
Chiles likes the flannel blankets and pillows that Five Below sells, but she especially loves the candy wall. Chiles said that she bought three giant bags of candy for $21 once.
“Everybody loves the candy wall,” Kimball said. “Candy is 10 for $1; kids can come in with $5 and walk out with a handful of things.”
Kimball said that the reason they can sell items cheaply is because they buy things in bulk. They also sell some items at cost so that they can maintain the quality, an aspect which is important to the co-founders.