Philadelphia — Five Below, Inc., the extreme-value retailer for teens and pre-teens, has appointed Winnie Park as chief executive officer (CEO) and a member of its board of directors, effective Dec. 16, 2024.
An accomplished retail executive with a career spanning more than three decades, Park has extensive experience in driving customer-centric business strategies, merchandising and brand building across a broad spectrum of specialty and value retail. Most recently, she was CEO at Forever 21.
In her new role, she will partner closely with Kenneth Bull, who will continue as Five Below’s chief operating officer. In addition, Thomas Vellios, co-founder, will continue as executive chairman, working alongside Park, Bull and the rest of the leadership team to drive the company’s strategic priorities. Park will be based in Philadelphia.
“Winnie is a passionate retail visionary with a deep understanding of the consumer and the power at the intersection of trend and value,” says Vellios. “The breadth of her leadership experience, especially her merchandising expertise, customer acumen, strong global background and, importantly, how she values people and champions organizational culture all make her uniquely suited for the role. Combined with Ken’s expertise and deep knowledge of our business, I’m confident that together we will unlock tremendous potential for our customers and shareholders by delivering amazing product at exceptional value in a fun store experience.”
Park served as chief executive officer of Forever 21 since January 2022, leading a transformational brand refresh for the fast-fashion company focused on younger consumers with a social-media-first approach to engaging with customers. Prior to Forever 21, Park was the CEO of Paper Source, where she drove the business from a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer to an omnichannel lifestyle brand. Earlier in her career, Park also led Women’s Merchandising for Dockers at Levi Strauss & Co.
Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Five Below today has over 1,750 stores in 44 states. For more information, visit www.fivebelow.com.
SOURCE: Five Below, Inc.