Teen retailer Five Below opening 9 discount stores in Florida on Friday

A new discount chain that sells electronics, home goods, candy and more to teens and preteens for $5 or less is about to open nine stores in Florida.

Five Below is a value retailer new to Florida, but the company has more than 400 stores across the country. New stores will open Friday in Plant City at Lake Walden Square, 115 W Alexander St., and in Brooksville at Cortez Commons, 12928 Cortez Blvd. Other Florida stores open Friday in Melbourne, Jacksonville, Orlando and Sarasota.

A selfie stick sells for $5 at Five Below. A four-pack of tribal-themed plastic drinking glasses sells for $5. An inflatable puppy pool toy is $5. These items, and more, are what Five Below's website says are "trending" — or selling well — as of Wednesday afternoon. Five Below targets the teen demographic through social media and sells products that are popular that week, month or year, like yoga pants, cellphone cases and chargers. Five Below carries brands including Lego, Hasbro, Disney and Marvel.

The stores are bright and colorful, and each department from "style" to "room" to "sports" to "tech" are described as their own worlds within the four walls of the storefront.

"Entering the state of Florida, our 25th state, and opening our first stores in Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa, is very exciting as we continue to grow our footprint across the country," Joel Anderson, CEO of Five Below, said in a statement. "Kids and parents looking for a fun place to shop for trend-right, high-quality products at a great value will surely enjoy Five Below. Where else can you get the awesome feeling of getting all things summer for just $5 and below?"

Five Below, a publicly traded company that opened its first store in Pennsylvania in 2002, is expanding aggressively. The company plans to open 70 new stores this year, which is up from the 62 it opened in 2014.

Five Below will host weekend-long grand opening celebrations at each new store starting Friday. Shoppers can expect giveaways and sales, including 5-cent hot dogs on Friday and Saturday.

Contact Justine Griffin at jgriffin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8467. Follow @sunbizgriffin.