Five Below

OK, I’m a Dollar Store/​Five Below PRO.
Here are great things to get at this location:
–sports shorts
–shoes (I bought 2 pairs of flats here and they lasted over a year)
–yoga mats/​dumbbells/​sports stuff
–home stuff like paper waste baskets and pillows
–gifts/​toys for children
–seasonal goods — I bought my lawn chairs here, sweet deal!
Not-​so-​great things:
–candy — overpriced
–stationery
–sodas/​drinks
–t-​shirts — not good quality in my experience
–headphones — again, quality is usually fairly bad
It’s a fun little store, but don’t get carried away! It’s easy to overspend.

ONCE UPON A TIME, my mom would drive us out to the teeny tiny collection of stores that is now Reston, Va. And we’d go to this Asian food store and get these candies that came wrapped in rice paper AND YOU COULD EAT THE PAPER. To a kid of 7 or so, this was pretty rad. And then we stopped going out there because … I don’t remember.
Maybe I became a sulky teen and didn’t want to go? But I never saw the rice paper candy anywhere again.
Flash forward eleventy million years. I walk into this store because … I don’t know? I think I was looking for stocking stuffers. But anyway, I’d seen these stores around for years but always thought «Meh.» But anyway — and you can already guess they have the rice paper candy, so skip that part.
As other people have said, this store is great. This store is FUN. It is worthwhile just to poke through there every once in a while just to see what they have. Definitely stop in if you’re looking for school supplies. Or stocking stuffers. I’ve been there right before Christmas and while it gets messy, I think it is impossible for the checkout line to get too long. The only problem is because things are so cheap, it is easy to find yourself with a crapton of stuff you DID not intend to buy.
Have fun. Just don’t buy all of the rice paper candy.

I can’t believe I had never heard of this place. (Though it’s not entirely unsurprising as I spend barely any time in Columbia Heights, and they just don’t have this kind of store in my neighborhood.) We stumbled in here after going to DSW and ended up spending WAY more than we should have because it’s easy to pick up a lot of stuff when it’s all $ 5 or less.
They actually have a really cool selection of World Cup stuff, which was fun. I bought some new headphones, the beau got a waterproof pouch for his phone, I found 5lb weights, which were like $ 35 at Ross and $ 5 each here.
They have a little bit of everything, it’s super difficult to describe, but I’d recommend going in if you’re in Columbia Heights. It’s kind of like a Party City but cheaper, with much wider variety.
I’ll definitely be going back for all of my glow stick/​light up/​rave toy needs, plus party supplies, plus school supplies, plus beach supplies, grilling stuff, World Cup stuff, sports equipment, and more.

there is no daiso out this way and i wanted to get random things for the home for cheap. luckily we spotted five below on our trip here. five below is on irving street, around the corner from the large shops like target.
it has a lot of the basics for the home, garden, toiletries, and electronics for under $ 5. despite the bargains for a few things like chargers and home décor, their stationary items and some of their snacks are over priced. so do take a second look at the prices before committing to purchase.

This place is great for things like greeting cards, gift wrap, candy, gag gifts, and kids toys and room stuff (I assume, anyways, I’m not anyone who has or will have kids). I just don’t know why they seem to close 20 – 30 minutes early on multiple occasions. Frustrating.

You know when you see someone wearing a crazy santa hat or fuzzy pink zebra pajama shorts, and you wonder where in the world she got that statement piece? She (I) got it at Five Below. They have everything from board games to shoe racks to scarves to dvds. I went there two days in a row, feeling like I had found a hidden gem.
Then, when I got a snapchat from Braden J. of a gigantic tennis ball and a cap gun, I knew the secret was out.
It was pretty crowded, but the store was well staffed, and the staff was helpful and enthusiastic. They were all out of the free t-​shirts for opening weekend, but the fact that they had free t-​shirts for opening weekend makes me think that there might be more cool promotions in the future.
I would recommend shopping here if you need costume items, birthday decorations, or something useful but low quality (like a yoga mat or a blanket) – all things that I have had trouble finding for a reasonable price at other stores. I learned the hard way that CVS doesn’t sell «Happy Birthday» banners. Guess who does.
Five Below also sells that really funny brand of greeting cards, but keep in mind that they are not discounted because greeting cards are already under $ 5.
Five stars, one for each dollar of the most expensive item at this store.

This store is big, clean, and has everything you didn’t realize you needed. The big «problem» here is it is just so inexpensive that it is hard not to buy everything. For instance, I went in not needing anything and just wanting to look around. I ended up buying a giant tennis ball, a cap gun, and a bunch of random candy (Cowtails, laffy taffy, etc).
In reality this place also has a lot of stuff that people need for really cheap: $ 5 Yoga mat, $ 5 phone cases (iPhone and Samsung primarily), $ 2 iPhone screen protector ($ 25 at best buy), lots of school supplies, wrapping paper, etc.
Now that this has opened I will be shopping here a lot more and target a lot less. It is a great addition to DC USA.