Founder Profile
David Schlessinger
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is David Schlessinger?
David Schlessinger is a founder of Five Below, Inc., which was founded in 2002 with Tom Vellios.
- Company founded
- Five Below, Inc.
- Founded
- 2002
- Co-founders
- Tom Vellios
Background
Before Five Below, David Schlessinger founded Encore Books and the educational toy chain Zany Brainy, giving him experience in multi-store specialty retail.
Founding Story
David Schlessinger co-founded Five Below in 2002 with Tom Vellios. He had earlier founded Encore Books and Zany Brainy. With Vellios he identified an underserved tween and teen customer and built a store where nearly everything cost $5 or less. The first store opened in Wayne, Pennsylvania, in 2002. David Schlessinger was born in 1955.
Sources
This profile does not yet cite a source specific to David Schlessinger. The sources below document the company company rather than the person, so check them against the claims above.
- Five Below FY2025 Form 10-K (Five Below, Inc.)
- Five Below Q4 and Fiscal 2025 Results (Five Below, Inc.)