Five Below on Chestnut Street shut down after rodents gnawed holes in food bags
Health inspectors found mouse droppings and gnawed food bags in a Dec. 2 inspection. The store failed its reinspection on Dec. 5 as well.
The Five Below at 16th and Chestnut Streets, one of the company’s flagship stores, has been ordered to close after health inspectors found evidence of mice on several occasions.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health ordered the store to close after a Dec. 2 inspection found dead mice in the basement and mouse droppings where chips and popcorn had been stored. They also found 22 bags of food “with holes gnawed in them.”
The Philadelphia-based retail chain was instructed to keep that store closed for at least 48 hours, and was told a reopening would have to be approved by the department. A reinspection report dated Dec. 5 said the inspectors continued to find mouse droppings and gnawed holes in several bags of chips and popcorn.
The report also mentions damaged floor tiles, unsealed utility lines, and stained and missing ceiling tiles.
In order to reopen, the company must pay a fee, and get approval from the Public Health Department.
Several reinspections have occurred at the Chestnut Street store in recent months after inspectors found violations in July: four dead mice, a customer with a dog in the store, and used needles in a dumpster area.
The two-story retailer on Chestnut Street opened in 2015, and is less than a mile away from the company headquarters, at 701 Market Street.
The company also has a store at 701 Market. Inspectors found rodent droppings at that store in September but the problem was fixed before a reinspection in October.
Five Below did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Five Below has seen changes in leadership recently.
The retail chain, which has over 1,500 stores, welcomed a new CEO this week: Winnie Park who has previously helmed Paper Source and Forever 21. She succeeds Kenneth Bull, the company’s chief operating officer who has been serving as interim CEO.
Former CEO Joel D. Anderson left Five Below in July after two discouraging quarterly profit reports. He had pushed the company to pursue larger stores and offer more expensive products. The company said in a recent SEC filing that chief merchandising officer Michael Romanko would also retire by mid-November.
The company saw sales and profits grow while other retailers struggled during the pandemic, but its performance has not kept up recently. In 2023 Anderson said the company aimed to triple its store count by 2030, but in August, company executives said they would slow store openings and look for cost cutting measures.