Is Five Below Really Filled with Money Saving Bargains?

I remember as a teenager hearing all the advertisements for Five Below on the radio. The problems was they were all located so far away in major cities and towns. From what I had heard about it, I knew I wanted to one day get the chance to shop at one. They supposedly have really good stuff, really cheap. Five Below was actually created by David Schlessinger, who is well know for creating Zany Brainy and Encore Books. The products you can find arrange from well known brands such as Spalding, Conair, Wilson, Lego, Nestle, Crayola, Hello Kitty, Family Guy, Disney and Marvel. Most items are geared for teens and kids, with items arranging from room decor to games. So I was completely thrilled to find out that there was one opening up right in my home town.

On November 7-th Five Below in Quakertown opened it's doors. Complete with a DJ and a table where free shirts were displayed, laid the open doors of this long awaited store. So how did Five Below really rank? Did it have amazing, mind blowing money saving, door busting deals? Or was it a thumbs down shopping adventure filled with simple deals on poor quality merchandise? Well, a little bit of both! You do find great deal, but you won't find them in every isle.

I ended up going just one day after their grand opening and took my son, who is five and my eighteen year old sister in law. My son still had some birthday money saved up from July, so he was eager to see what he could buy. As for me, I just wanted to browse and get a general feel for the store. Those who know me, know I love to shop, but am so frugal, no matter what I get has to feel like a steal before I open my wallet. In part it's because I have learned that I can buy expensive name brand things cheaper than used, off label items. The key is always knowing where and when to find a bargain. So could a great bargain be found at Five Below? Well, not as many as I thought. Although there are some good deals in the store, they are few and far between.

Basically, Five Below is set up kind of like an over glorified dollar store for teens, kids and young adults. The best deal I could find was a Wilson basketball for five bucks. In Wal mart you would have paid a little over double that, so to me, that was a good deal. I also found that most things that are labeled for five dollars are usually a better deal than those labeled for two or three dollars. Actually, most items that are marked in Five Below for two or three dollars can be found in a dollar store or Wal Mart for less!

One example of just that was a pack of Christmas cards I found at Five Below marked for two dollars. On the sign it said "seen else where for up to five dollars" But then I went into my local Dollar Tree and saw the same exact, Disney Christmas cards for only a buck! Another example minimal savings are at the greeting card section of the store. There is a sign that says all greeting cards marked $0.99 cents-$1.49 ALL .99 cents! Woo-hoo on that one, not! I could just go to my local Half Note Hallmark Card store, have an almost endless selection of cards at my fingertips and spend 50% less than what the back of the card states as retail.

Five Below has a small selection of movie titles as well. This is similar to the bargain bin at Wal Mart where every title in the bin is five dollars, except there are only a few titles in five below, most of which are at Wal Mart for the same price anyway.

They have a make up section with the same type of "quality" make up you would find at a dollar store for anywhere from two to five dollars a pop, again I wasn't feeling that that was a great deal either. There were hair care products from L'oreal and a few other well known brands, but they were labeled for the same price, if not higher than you would find in another store. Plus, items like these often go on sale at CVS and Rite Aid for buy one get one free, making a drug store a more desirable place to purchase such items.

One thing I did like about Five Below, however, was they had many things you can't find at other places. Many of the games for children and arts and crafts projects are not sold in many stores. It would be worth it for those type of items, since they are a good deal for the money and hard to find. You will certainly find a good deal here and there, and I will continue to shop at Five Below, with my eyes peeled for money saving bargains. My sister in law also said she would like to come back for her Christmas shopping, since everything is promised to be no more than five bucks. My son really liked the store, mostly because it's practically a toy store since a lot of the items are geared for kids, teens and young adults.

If you want to check out the new Five Below in Quakertown Pa, it's located at 648 N. West End Blvd. right near the new plaza that opened up last year with Target, Best Buy, Pets Mart and other stores. If your like me, you'll be able to spot what is Worth the money and what isn't and you may walk out with a couple good bargains! If your not in the Quakertown area, you can check out www.fivebelow.com to see if there is one near you. Right now, most stores on on the East Coast, with about a total of 80 stores. You can find a lot of information about them at their website, so check it out!