Is Five Below Expanding to East Bakersfield? the Truth About the City Lights Development
By Alexander Ross
The expectation that Five Below would join City Lights gained traction through community Facebook groups and Reddit threads tracking local construction permits. In late 2025, commercial signage permits filed with the City of Bakersfield Building Division showed requests for discount general merchandise signage along the California Avenue frontage. Speculators interpreted this as confirmation of the Philadelphia-based discount chain.
Local neighborhood chatter reflected an appetite for accessible family retail:
"Everyone on the East Side has to drive twenty-five minutes down Highway 58 and across town to Gosford just to buy seasonal goods and art supplies without spending department store prices," noted one community organizer in a Bakersfield development discussion forum. "When crews knocked down the old facades at City Lights, everyone assumed the major brands were finally heading east."
When the municipal planning desk released the actual sign packages, the permits belonged to general apparel and domestic retail stores, not Five Below. The rumor persisted because national discount variety store chains share identical architectural footprints: exposed ceiling trusses, polished concrete floors, and broad glass frontage spanning 8,000 to 12,000 square feet.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
