RISK FACTORS

An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this prospectus, before making an investment decision. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

We may not be able to successfully implement our growth strategy on a timely basis or at all, which could harm our growth and results of operations.

Our growth is dependent on our ability to open profitable new stores. We believe we have an opportunity to continue to grow our store base from 192 stores in 16 states at the end of fiscal 2011, to more than 2,000 locations over time.

Our ability to open profitable new stores depends on many factors, including our ability to:

Unavailability of attractive store locations, delays in the acquisition or opening of new stores, delays or costs resulting from a decrease in commercial development due to capital constraints, difficulties in staffing and operating new store locations or lack of customer acceptance of stores in new market areas may negatively impact our new store growth and the costs or the profitability associated with new stores.

Additionally, some of our new stores may be located in areas where we have little experience or a lack of brand recognition. Those markets may have different competitive conditions, market conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our existing markets, which may cause these new stores to be less successful than stores in our existing markets. Other new stores may be located in areas where we have existing stores. Although we have experience in these markets, increasing the number of locations in these markets may result in inadvertent over-saturation of markets and temporarily or permanently divert customers and sales from our existing stores, thereby adversely affecting our overall financial performance.

Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we will achieve our planned growth or, even if we are able to grow our store base as planned, that any new stores will perform as planned. If we fail to successfully implement our growth strategy, we will not be able to sustain the rapid growth in sales and profits that we expect, which would likely have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.

Any disruption in our ability to select, obtain, distribute and market merchandise attractive to customers at prices that allow us to profitably sell such merchandise could impact our business negatively.

We generally have been able to select and obtain sufficient quantities of attractive merchandise at prices that allow us to be profitable. If we are unable to continue to select products that are attractive to our customers, to

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obtain such products at costs that allow us to sell such products at a profit, or to market such products effectively to consumers, our sales or profitability could be affected adversely. In addition, the success of our business depends in part on our ability to anticipate, identify and respond promptly to evolving trends in demographics and consumer preferences, expectations and needs. If we are unable to quickly respond to developing trends or if the spending patterns or demographics of these markets change, and we do not timely and appropriately respond to such changes, then the demand for our products, which are discretionary, and our market share could be adversely affected. Failure to maintain attractive stores and to timely identify or effectively respond to changing consumer needs, preferences and spending patterns could adversely affect our relationship with customers, the demand for our products and our market share.

Any disruption in the supply or increase in pricing of our merchandise could negatively impact our ability to achieve anticipated operating results. The products we sell are sourced from a wide variety of domestic and international vendors. We have not experienced any difficulty in obtaining sufficient quantities of core merchandise and believe that, if one or more of our current sources of supply become unavailable, we would generally be able to obtain alternative sources without experiencing a substantial disruption of our business. However, such alternative sources could increase our merchandise costs and reduce the quality of our merchandise, and an inability to obtain alternative sources could affect our sales.

A significant majority of our merchandise is manufactured outside the United States, and changes in the prices and flow of these goods for any reason could have an adverse impact on our operations. The United States and other countries have occasionally proposed and enacted protectionist trade legislation, which may result in changes in tariff structures and trade policies and restrictions that could increase the cost or reduce the availability of certain merchandise. Any of these or other measures or events relating to vendors and the countries in which they are located or where our merchandise is manufactured, some or all of which are beyond our control, can negatively impact our operations, increase costs and lower our margins. Such events or circumstances include, but are not limited to:

These and other factors affecting our vendors and our access to products could affect our financial performance adversely.

Our new store growth is dependent upon our ability to successfully expand our distribution network capacity, and failure to achieve or sustain these plans could affect our performance adversely.

We maintain a distribution center in New Castle, Delaware and we plan to open a new distribution center in the southern United States during fiscal 2013 to support our growth objectives. Delays in opening this new distribution center (or new distribution centers in the future) could adversely affect our future operations by slowing store growth, which could in turn reduce sales growth. In addition, any distribution-related construction or expansion projects entail risks which could cause delays and cost overruns, such as: shortages of materials; shortages of skilled labor or work stoppages; unforeseen construction, scheduling, engineering, environmental or geological problems; weather interference; fires or other casualty losses; and unanticipated cost increases. The completion date and ultimate cost of future projects, including the distribution center planned for fiscal 2013, could differ significantly from initial expectations due to construction-related or other reasons. We cannot guarantee that any project will be completed on time or within established budgets.

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A significant disruption to our distribution network or to the timely receipt of inventory could adversely impact sales or increase our transportation costs, which would decrease our profits.

We currently rely primarily on our distribution center in New Castle, Delaware to distribute our products. Because most of our products are distributed from this center, the loss of our distribution center, due to natural disaster or otherwise, would materially affect our operations. We also rely upon independent third-party transportation to provide goods to our stores in a timely and cost-effective manner, through deliveries to our distribution center from vendors and then from the distribution center or direct ship vendors to our stores. Our use of outside delivery services for shipments is subject to risks outside of our control and any disruption, unanticipated expense or operational failure related to this process could affect store operations negatively. For example, unexpected delivery delays or increases in transportation costs (including through increased fuel costs or a decrease in transportation capacity for overseas shipments) could significantly decrease our ability to generate sales and earn profits. In addition, labor shortages or work stoppages in the transportation industry or long-term disruptions to the national and international transportation infrastructure that lead to delays or interruptions of deliveries could negatively affect our business. If we change shipping companies, we could face logistical difficulties that could adversely impact deliveries and we would incur costs and expend resources in connection with such change. Moreover, we may not be able to obtain terms as favorable as those received from the independent third-party transportation providers we currently use, which would increase our costs.

Inability to attract and retain qualified employees, particularly district, store and distribution center managers, and to control labor costs, as well as other labor issues, could adversely affect our business.

Our growth could be adversely impacted by our inability to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees at the store operations level, in distribution facilities, and at the corporate level, at costs which allow us to profitably conduct our operations. Our ability to meet our labor needs, while controlling our labor costs, is subject to many external factors, including competition for and availability of qualified personnel in a given market, unemployment levels within those markets, prevailing wage rates, minimum wage laws, health and other insurance costs, and changes in employment and labor laws (including changes in the process for our employees to join a union) or other workplace regulation. To the extent a significant portion of our employee base unionizes, or attempts to unionize, our labor costs could increase. In addition, we believe the current pricing of our healthcare costs includes the potential future impact of recently enacted comprehensive healthcare reform legislation, but such legislation may further cause our healthcare costs to increase. While significant costs of the healthcare reform legislation may occur after 2013 due to provisions of the legislation being phased in over time, changes to our healthcare costs structure could have a significant negative effect on our business. In addition, our ability to pass along any increase in labor costs to our customers is constrained by our low price model.

Our growth from existing stores is dependent upon our ability to increase sales and improve the efficiencies, costs and effectiveness of our operations, and failure to achieve or sustain these plans could affect our performance adversely.

Increases in sales in existing stores are dependent on factors such as competition, merchandise selection, store operations and customer satisfaction. If we fail to realize our goals of successfully managing our store operations and increasing our customer retention and recruitment levels, our sales may not increase and our growth may be impacted adversely.

Our success depends on our executive officers and other key personnel. If we lose our executive officers or any other key personnel, or are unable to hire additional qualified personnel, our business could be harmed.

Our future success depends to a significant degree on the skills, experience and efforts of our executive officers and other key personnel, including Messrs. Schlessinger and Vellios, our founders. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers or other key personnel could have an adverse effect on our operations. Absent the consent of the lenders under our revolving credit facility, the loss of the services of both Messrs.

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Schlessinger and Vellios would render our revolving credit facility unavailable. Our future success will also depend on our ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel, as a failure to attract these key personnel could have an adverse effect on our operations. We do not currently maintain key person life insurance policies with respect to our executive officers or key personnel.

Our cash flows from operations may be negatively affected if we are not successful in managing our inventory balances and inventory shrinkage.

Our inventory balance represented approximately 29% of our total assets as of January 28, 2012. Efficient inventory management is a key component of our business success and profitability. To be successful, we must maintain sufficient inventory levels to meet our customers’ demands without allowing those levels to increase to such an extent that the costs to store and hold the goods unduly impacts our financial results. If our buying decisions do not accurately predict customer trends or purchasing actions, we may have to take unanticipated markdowns to dispose of excess inventory, which also can adversely impact our financial results. We also experience inventory shrinkage, and we cannot assure you that incidences of inventory loss and theft will stay at acceptable levels or decrease in the future, or that the measures we are taking will effectively address the problem of inventory shrinkage. We continue to focus on ways to reduce these risks, but we cannot assure you that we will be successful in our inventory management. If we are not successful in managing our inventory balances, our cash flows from operations may be negatively affected.

Our business requires that we lease substantial amounts of space and there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to lease space on terms as favorable as the leases negotiated in the past.

We do not own any real estate. Instead, we lease all of our store locations, as well as our corporate headquarters and distribution facility in New Castle, Delaware. Our stores are leased from third parties, with typical initial lease terms of five to ten years. Many of our lease agreements also have additional five-year renewal options. We believe that we have been able to negotiate favorable rental rates and tenant allowances over the last few years due in large part to the state of the economy and higher than usual vacancy rates in shopping centers and regional malls. These trends may not continue, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to continue to negotiate such favorable terms. Many of our lease agreements have defined escalating rent provisions over the initial term and any extensions. Increases in our occupancy costs and difficulty in identifying economically suitable new store locations could have significant negative consequences, which include:

We depend on cash flow from operations to pay our lease expenses and to fulfill our other cash needs. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flow from operating activities to fund these expenses and needs and sufficient funds are not otherwise available to us, we may not be able to service our lease expenses, grow our business, respond to competitive challenges or fund our other liquidity and capital needs, which could harm our business. Additional sites that we lease may be subject to long-term non-cancelable leases if we are unable to negotiate our current standard lease terms. If an existing or future store is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term. Moreover, even if a lease has an early cancellation clause, we may not satisfy the contractual requirements for early cancellation under that lease. In addition, if we are not able to enter into new leases or renew existing leases on terms acceptable to us, this could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

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We operate in a competitive environment and, as a result, we may not be able to compete effectively or maintain or increase our sales, market shares or margins.

We operate in a highly competitive retail environment with numerous competitors, some of which have greater resources or better brand recognition than we do. We compete with respect to customers, price, store location, merchandise quality, assortment and presentation, in-stock consistency, customer service and employees. This competitive environment subjects us to various risks, including the ability to provide quality, trend-right merchandise to our customers at competitive prices that allow us to maintain our profitability. Because of our low price model, we may have limited ability to increase prices in response to increased costs without losing competitive position which may adversely affect our margins and financial performance. In addition, price reductions by our competitors may result in the reduction of our prices and a corresponding reduction in our profitability.

Consolidation among retailers, changes in pricing of merchandise or offerings of other services by competitors could have a negative impact on the relative attractiveness of our stores to consumers. We do not possess exclusive rights to many of the elements that comprise our in-store experience and product offerings. Our competitors may seek to copy our business strategy and in-store experience, which could result in a reduction of any competitive advantage or special appeal that we might possess. In addition, most of our products are sold to us on a non-exclusive basis. As a result, our current and future competitors may be able to duplicate or improve on some or all of our in-store experience or product offerings that we believe are important in differentiating our stores and our customers’ shopping experience. If our competitors were to duplicate or improve on some or all of our in-store experience or product offerings, our competitive position and our business could suffer. Our ability to provide quality, trend-right products while offering attractive, competitively-priced products could be impacted by various actions of our competitors that are beyond our control.

Our profitability is vulnerable to inflation, cost increases and energy prices.

Future increases in costs such as the cost of merchandise, shipping rates, freight costs, fuel costs and store occupancy costs may reduce our profitability, particularly given our $5 and below pricing model. These cost increases may be the result of inflationary pressures that could further reduce our sales or profitability. Increases in other operating costs, including changes in energy prices, wage rates and lease and utility costs, may increase our cost of goods sold or operating expenses. Our low price model and competitive pressures in our industry may have the effect of inhibiting our ability to reflect these increased costs in the prices of our products and therefore reduce our profitability.

Our business is seasonal, and adverse events during the holiday season could impact our operating results negatively.

Our business is seasonal, with the highest percentage of sales (approximately 42% of total annual sales over the last two fiscal years) occurring during the last fiscal quarter (November, December and January), which includes the holiday season. We purchase substantial amounts of inventory in the end of the third quarter (October) and beginning of the fourth quarter (November and December) and incur higher shipping costs and higher payroll costs in anticipation of the increased sales activity during these time periods. Adverse events, such as deteriorating economic conditions, higher unemployment, higher gas prices, public transportation disruptions or unusual weather could result in lower-than-planned sales during the holiday season which may lead to unanticipated markdowns. Since we rely on third parties for transportation and use third party warehouses when we build up inventory, a number of these factors are outside of our control. An unsuccessful fourth quarter, or holiday season, will have a substantial negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations for the entire fiscal year.

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Material damage to, or interruptions to, our technology systems as a result of external factors, staffing shortages and difficulties in updating our existing technology or developing or implementing new technology could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

We depend on a variety of information technology systems for the efficient functioning of our business. Such systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches and natural disasters. Damage or interruption to these systems may require a significant investment to fix or replace them, and we may suffer interruptions in our operations in the interim. Any material interruptions may have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

We also rely heavily on our information technology staff. Failure to meet these staffing needs may negatively affect our ability to fulfill our technology initiatives while continuing to provide maintenance on existing systems. We rely on certain vendors to maintain and periodically upgrade many of these systems so that they can continue to support our business. The software programs supporting many of our systems were licensed to us by independent software developers. The inability of these developers or us to continue to maintain and upgrade these information systems and software programs would disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations if we are unable to convert to alternate systems in an efficient and timely manner. In addition, costs and potential problems and interruptions associated with the implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology, or with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems could also disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations.

Failure to maintain adequate financial and management processes and controls could lead to errors in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and cause a decline in our stock price.

Reporting obligations as a public company and our anticipated growth are likely to place a considerable strain on our financial and management systems, processes and controls, as well as on our personnel. In addition, as a public company, in the future we will be required to document and test our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 so that our management can certify the effectiveness of our internal controls and our independent registered public accounting firm can render an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. As a result, we may be required to incur substantial expenses to test our systems, to make any necessary improvements, and to hire additional personnel. If our management is unable to certify the effectiveness of our internal controls or if our independent registered public accounting firm cannot render an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, or if material weaknesses in our internal controls are identified, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny and a loss of public confidence, which could harm our business and cause a decline in our stock price. In addition, if we do not maintain adequate financial and management personnel, processes and controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial performance on a timely basis, which could cause a decline in our stock price and harm our ability to raise capital. Failure to accurately report our financial performance on a timely basis could also jeopardize our continued listing on The NASDAQ Global Select Market or any other stock exchange on which our common stock may be listed. Delisting of our common stock on any exchange could reduce the liquidity of the market for our common stock, which could reduce the price of our stock and increase the volatility of our stock price.

Our ability to obtain additional financing on favorable terms, if needed, could be adversely affected by volatility in the capital markets.

We obtain and manage liquidity from the positive cash flow we generate from our operating activities, our access to capital markets and our revolving credit facility. There is no assurance that our ability to obtain additional financing from financial institutions or through the capital markets, if needed, will not be adversely impacted by economic conditions. Tightening in the credit markets, low liquidity and volatility in the capital markets could result in diminished availability of credit, higher cost of borrowing and lack of confidence in the equity market, making it more difficult to obtain additional financing on terms that are favorable to us.

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If we are unable to secure our customers’ confidential or credit card information, or other private data relating to our employees or our Company, we could be subject to negative publicity, costly government enforcement actions or private litigation, which could damage our business reputation and adversely affect our financial results.

The protection of our customer, employee and company data is critical to us. We have procedures and technology in place to safeguard our customers’ debit and credit card, and other personal information, our employees’ private data and company records and intellectual property. However, if we experience a data security breach of any kind, we could be exposed to negative publicity, government enforcement actions, private litigation or costly response measures. In addition, our reputation within the business community and with our customers may be affected, which could result in our customers discontinuing the use of debit or credit cards in our stores, or not shopping in our stores altogether. This could cause us to lose market share to our competitors and could have an adverse effect on our financial results.

We are exposed to the risk of natural disasters, unusual weather conditions, pandemic outbreaks, global political events, war and terrorism that could disrupt business and result in lower sales, increased operating costs and capital expenditures.

Our headquarters, store locations and distribution center, as well as certain of our vendors and customers, are located in areas which have been and could be subject to natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires or earthquakes. Adverse weather conditions or other extreme changes in the weather, including resulting electrical and technological failures, may disrupt our business and may adversely affect our ability to sell and distribute products. In addition, we operate in markets that may be susceptible to pandemic outbreaks, war, terrorist acts or disruptive global political events, such as civil unrest in countries from which our vendors are located or products are manufactured. Our business may be harmed if our ability to sell and distribute products is impacted by any such events, any of which could influence customer trends and purchases and may negatively impact our net sales, properties or operations. Such events could result in physical damage to one or more of our properties, the temporary closure of some or all of our stores or distribution center, the temporary lack of an adequate work force in a market, temporary or long-term disruption in the transport of goods, delay in the delivery of goods to our distribution center or stores, disruption of our technology support or information systems, or fuel shortages or dramatic increases in fuel prices, which increase the cost of doing business. These events also can have indirect consequences such as increases in the costs of insurance if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage. Any of these factors, or combination thereof, could adversely affect our operations.

Current economic conditions and other economic factors could adversely impact our financial performance and other aspects of our business in various respects.

A delayed recovery in the U.S. economy or other economic factors affecting disposable consumer income, such as employment levels, inflation, business conditions, fuel and energy costs, consumer debt levels, lack of available credit, interest rates, tax rates and further erosion in consumer confidence may affect our business adversely. Such factors could reduce overall consumer spending or cause customers to shift their spending to products other than those sold by us or to products sold by us that are less profitable than other product choices, all of which could result in lower net sales, decreases in inventory turnover or a reduction in profitability due to lower margins. We have limited or no ability to control many of these factors. The current global economic uncertainty, the impact of recessions and the potential for failures or realignments of financial institutions and the related impact on available credit may impact us, our vendors and other business partners, our landlords, our customers, our service providers and our operations in an adverse manner.

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Changes in state or federal legislation or regulations, including the effects of legislation and regulations on product and food safety and quality, wage levels, employee rights, health care, social welfare and entitlement programs could increase our cost of doing business.

Our business is subject to numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations. We routinely incur costs in complying with these laws and regulations. We are exposed to the risk that federal, state or local legislation may negatively impact our operations. Changes in product and food safety and quality (including changes in labeling or disclosure requirements), federal or state wage requirements, employee rights (including changes in the process for our employees to join a union), health care, social welfare or entitlement programs such as health insurance, paid leave programs, or other changes in workplace regulation or tax laws could adversely impact our ability to achieve our financial targets. Changes in other regulatory areas, such as consumer credit, privacy and information security, or environmental regulation may result in significant added expenses or may require extensive system and operating changes that may be difficult to implement and/or could materially increase our costs of doing business. Untimely compliance or noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations may subject us to legal risk, including government enforcement action, significant fines and penalties and class action litigation, as well as reputational damage, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

Our business is subject to the risk of litigation by employees, consumers, vendors, competitors, intellectual property rights holders, shareholders, government agencies and others through private actions, class actions, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions or other litigation. The outcome of litigation, particularly class action lawsuits, regulatory actions and intellectual property claims, is difficult to assess or quantify. Plaintiffs in these types of lawsuits may seek recovery of very large or indeterminate amounts, and the magnitude of the potential loss relating to these lawsuits may remain unknown for substantial periods of time. In addition, certain of these lawsuits, if decided adversely to us or settled by us, may result in liability material to our financial statements as a whole or may negatively affect our operating results if changes to our business operation are required. The cost to defend future litigation may be significant. There also may be adverse publicity associated with litigation that could negatively affect customer perception of our business, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are ultimately found liable. As a result, litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

If we fail to protect our brand name, competitors may adopt trade names that dilute the value of our brand name.

We may be unable or unwilling to strictly enforce our trademarks in each jurisdiction in which we do business. Also, we may not always be able to successfully enforce our trademarks against competitors, or against challenges by others. Our failure to successfully protect our trademarks could diminish the value and efficacy of our brand recognition and could cause customer confusion, which could, in turn, adversely affect our sales and profitability.

Our management has limited experience managing a public company and our current resources may not be sufficient to fulfill our public company obligations.

Following the closing of this offering, we will be subject to various regulatory requirements, including those of the SEC and The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC. These requirements include record keeping, financial reporting and corporate governance rules and regulations. Our management team has limited experience in managing a public company and, historically, has not had the resources typically found in a public company. Our internal infrastructure may not be adequate to support our increased reporting obligations and we may be unable to hire, train or retain necessary staff and may be reliant on engaging outside consultants or professionals to overcome our lack of experience or employees. Our business could be adversely affected if our internal infrastructure is inadequate, we are unable to engage outside consultants or are otherwise unable to fulfill our public company obligations.

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Product and food safety claims and the effects of legislation and regulations on product and food safety and quality could affect our sales and results of operations adversely.

We may be subject to product liability claims from customers or actions required or penalties assessed by government agencies relating to products, including food products that are recalled, defective or otherwise alleged to be harmful. Such claims may result from tampering by unauthorized third parties, product contamination or spoilage, including the presence of foreign objects, substances, chemicals, other agents, or residues introduced during the growing, storage, handling and transportation phases. All of our vendors and their products are contractually required to comply with applicable product and food safety laws. We generally seek contractual indemnification and insurance coverage from our vendors. However, if we do not have adequate contractual indemnification and/or insurance available, such claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our ability to obtain indemnification from foreign vendors may be hindered by the manufacturers’ lack of understanding of U.S. product liability or other laws, which may make it more likely that we be required to respond to claims or complaints from customers as if we were the manufacturer of the products. Even with adequate insurance and indemnification, such claims could significantly damage our reputation and consumer confidence in our products. Our litigation expenses could increase as well, which also could have a materially negative impact on our results of operations even if a product liability claim is unsuccessful or is not fully pursued.

We purchase a portion of our products on a closeout basis. Some of these products are obtained through brokers or intermediaries rather than through manufacturers. The closeout nature of a portion of our products sometimes makes it more difficult for us to investigate all aspects of these products. We attempt to assure compliance and to test products when appropriate, and we seek to obtain indemnification through our vendors or to be listed as an additional insured, but there is no assurance that these efforts will be successful.

We will incur significant expenses as a result of being a public company, which will negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

We will incur significant legal, accounting, insurance, compliance and other expenses as a result of being a public company. After this offering, we will become obligated to file annual and quarterly information and other reports with the SEC. In addition, we will also become subject to other reporting and corporate governance requirements which will impose significant compliance obligations upon us. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, together with related rules implemented by the SEC and by The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, have required changes in corporate governance practices of public companies. We expect that compliance with these laws, rules and regulations, including compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as discussed in “—Failure to maintain adequate financial and management processes and controls could lead to errors in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and cause a decline in our stock price” above, will substantially increase our expenses, including our legal and accounting costs, and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We also expect these laws, rules and regulations to make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as officers. As a result of the foregoing, we expect a substantial increase in legal, accounting and insurance compliance and certain other expenses in the future, which will negatively impact our financial performance and could cause our results of operations and financial condition to suffer.

The terms of our new term loan facility and our revolving credit facility may restrict our current and future operations, which could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our business and to manage our operations.

Our term loan facility and our revolving credit facility contain, and any additional debt financing we may incur would likely contain, covenants requiring us to maintain or adhere to certain financial ratios or limits and covenants that restrict our operations, which may include limitations on our ability to, among other things:

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Complying with these covenants could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our business and manage our operations. In addition, these covenants could affect our ability to invest capital in our new stores and fund capital expenditures for existing stores, including the costs associated with the conversion of certain stores existing before fiscal 2009 to our current prototype size. Our ability to comply with these covenants and other provisions in the term loan facility, the revolving credit facility and any future debt instruments may be affected by changes in our operating and financial performance, changes in general business and economic conditions, adverse regulatory developments, or other events beyond our control. A failure by us to comply with the financial ratios and restrictive covenants contained in our term loan facility, revolving credit facility and any future debt instruments could result in an event of default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding to be due and payable and exercise other remedies as set forth in our term loan facility, revolving credit facility and any future debt instruments. In addition, if we are in default, we may be unable to borrow additional amounts under any such facilities to the extent that they would otherwise be available and our ability to obtain future financing may also be impacted negatively. If the indebtedness under our term loan facility, revolving credit facility and any future debt instruments were to be accelerated, our future financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Risks Related to This Offering and Ownership of Our Common Stock

Our stock price may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price.

After this offering, the market price for our common stock is likely to be volatile, in part because our shares have not been traded publicly. In addition, broad market and industry factors, most of which we cannot control, may harm the price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. Factors that could cause fluctuation in the price of our common stock may include, among other things:

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In the past, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in their stock price. This type of litigation, even if it does not result in liability for us, could result in substantial costs to us and divert management’s attention and resources.

Future sales of our common stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.

The market price of our common stock could decline significantly as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market after this offering. The sales, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.

Upon the closing of this offering, we will have              shares of common stock outstanding. The shares of common stock offered in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, except for any shares of common stock that may be held or acquired by our directors, executive officers and other affiliates, as that term is defined in the Securities Act, which will be restricted securities under the Securities Act. Restricted securities may not be sold in the public market unless the sale is registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration is available. In addition, pursuant to our amended and restated investor rights agreement that will be in effect upon the closing of this offering, certain of our investors will have rights to require us to file registration statements registering additional sales of shares of common stock or to include sales of such shares of common stock in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other shareholders. In order to exercise these registration rights, these shareholders must satisfy certain conditions. Subject to compliance with applicable lock-up restrictions, shares of common stock sold under these registration statements can be freely sold in the public market. In the event such registration rights are exercised and a large number of shares of common stock are sold in the public market, such sales could reduce the trading price of our common stock. These sales also could impede our ability to raise future capital. Additionally, we will bear all expenses in connection with any such registrations (other than stock transfer taxes and underwriting discounts or commissions). See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Amended and Restated Investor Rights Agreement.”

We and the holders of substantially all of our common stock outstanding on the date of this prospectus, including each of our executive officers, directors and selling shareholders, have agreed with the underwriters, that for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, we or they will not offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option to purchase, make any short sale, or otherwise dispose of or hedge any shares of our common stock, or any options or warrants to purchase any shares of our common stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of common stock, subject specified exceptions. The representatives of the underwriters may, in their discretion, at any time without prior notice, release all or any portion of the shares from the restrictions in any such agreement. See “Underwriting” for more information. Substantially all of

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our shares of common stock outstanding as of the date of this prospectus may be sold in the public market by existing shareholders 90 days after the date of this prospectus, subject to the lock-up agreement and applicable volume and other limitations imposed under federal securities laws. See “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” for a more detailed description of the restrictions on selling shares of our common stock after this offering. Sales by our existing shareholders of a substantial number of shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decrease significantly.

In the future, we may also issue our securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The number of shares of our common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of our common stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to you.

Insiders will continue to have substantial control over us after this offering, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including a change of control.

Upon the closing of this offering, funds managed by Advent will control an aggregate of     % of the voting power of our outstanding common stock or     % if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares in this offering. As a result, Advent would be able to influence or control matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers, acquisitions and other extraordinary transactions. It may also have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change of control of Five Below, could deprive our shareholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of Five Below and might ultimately affect the market price of our common stock.

If you purchase shares of our common stock in this offering, you will experience substantial and immediate dilution.

If you purchase shares of our common stock in this offering, you will experience substantial and immediate dilution in the amount of $         per share, because the initial public offering price of $         per share is substantially greater than the net tangible book value per share of our outstanding common stock. This dilution is due in large part to the fact that our earlier investors paid substantially less than the initial public offering price when they purchased their shares of our capital stock and have received or will receive substantial dividends on their shares of capital stock. In addition, you may also experience additional dilution upon future equity issuances on the exercise of stock options to purchase common stock granted to our directors, management personnel and consultants under our equity incentive plan. See “Dilution.”

We do not expect to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future.

For the foreseeable future, we intend to retain any earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, including under agreements for indebtedness we may incur, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. Accordingly, if you purchase shares in this offering, realization of a gain on your investment will depend on the appreciation of the price of our common stock, which may never occur. Investors seeking cash dividends in the foreseeable future should not purchase our common stock.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research

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coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price for our common stock would be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our Company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline. Moreover, if our operating results do not meet the expectations of the investor community, or one or more of the analysts who cover our Company downgrades our stock, our stock price could decline.

We will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering.

We intend to use the net proceeds to us from this offering to pay offering-related expenses and to repay a portion of outstanding indebtedness under our new term loan facility. We intend to use the remaining proceeds (if any) as determined by our management in its sole discretion, for general corporate purposes, including working capital and capital expenditures. However, we have not determined the specific allocation of the net proceeds among those additional uses. We will have broad discretion over the use of the net proceeds to us from this offering, and you will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors and management regarding the application of these proceeds. It is possible that a substantial portion of the net proceeds will be invested in a way that does not yield a favorable, or any, return for us.

No market currently exists for our common stock and we cannot assure you that an active market will develop for such stock.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. The initial public offering price for our common stock will be determined through negotiations among us, the qualified independent underwriter and the representatives of the underwriters and may not be indicative of the market price of our common stock after this offering or to any other established criteria of the value of our business. If you purchase shares of our common stock, you may not be able to resell those shares at or above the initial public offering price. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in us will lead to the development of an active trading market on The NASDAQ Global Select Market or otherwise or how liquid that market might become. An active public market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained after the offering. If an active public market does not develop or is not sustained, it may be difficult for you to sell your shares of common stock at a price that is attractive to you or at all.

Anti-takeover provisions could delay and discourage takeover attempts that shareholders may consider to be favorable.

Certain provisions of our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended bylaws that will be in effect upon the closing of this offering and applicable provisions of Pennsylvania law may make it more difficult or impossible for a third party to acquire control of us or effect a change in our board of directors and management.

In particular, these provisions, among other things:

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In addition, anti-takeover provisions in Pennsylvania law could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us. These provisions could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and could reduce the amount that shareholders might receive if we are sold. For example, Pennsylvania law may restrict a third party’s ability to obtain control of us and may prevent shareholders from receiving a premium for their shares of our common stock. Pennsylvania law also provides that our shareholders are not entitled by statute to propose amendments to our articles of incorporation.

These and other provisions of Pennsylvania law and our amended and restated articles of incorporation and amended bylaws could delay, defer or prevent us from experiencing a change of control or changes in our board of directors and management and may adversely affect our shareholders’ voting and other rights. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction or changes in our board of directors and management could deter potential acquirors or prevent the completion of a transaction in which our shareholders could receive a substantial premium over the then current market price for their shares of our common stock.

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