Dive Brief:
- Dollar Tree has tapped Bobby Aflatooni, a Dollar General alum, to take over as chief information officer, the company announced Thursday.
- The departure of Andy Paisley, who served two terms as Dollar Tree’s CIO — from 1996 to 2014 and from December of 2020 until June of this year — cleared the way for Aflatooni’s move from the Howard Hughes Corporation, where he’d been CIO for almost three years.
- Aflatooni brings to his new role nine years of IT operations and infrastructure leadership experience with Dollar General, Dollar Tree’s key competitor in the value retail space. Aflatooni will be integral to Dollar Tree’s efforts to simplify work streams and accelerate growth, CEO Mike Witynski said in the press release.
Dive Insight:
Aflatooni’s arrival comes at a time of change and opportunity for Dollar Tree, part of a broader leadership overhaul.
Former Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling was installed as Dollar Tree’s executive chairman in March. Two former Dollar General executives — John Flanigan and Larry Gatta — joined the Dollar Tree team in May as chief supply chain officer and chief merchandising officer of Family Dollar, respectively.
Under pressure from activist investment firm Mantle Ridge, Dollar Tree said goodbye to Bob Sasser, the company’s executive board chairman and former CEO, earlier this year. Chief Legal Officer William Old, Chief Operating Officer Thomas O’Boyle and Chief Strategy Officer David Jacobs have also left the company.
Aflatooni and the revamped leadership team have a portfolio that includes over 16,000 stores in North America under the Dollar Tree, Dollar Tree Canada and Family Dollar banner. Discount retailers like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar generally perform well when consumer spending takes a hit.
With inflation cutting into paychecks, that hit has arrived. In May, the company reported a 6.5% growth in net sales and a gross profit increase to $2.34 billion from $1.96 year over year. Part of the upswing was driven by the company's first price point increase: from $1 to $1.25 after 35 years.
In addition to the 25-cent price hike, Dollar Tree has had to deal with fallout from reports that it sold potentially contaminated products from a rat-infested West Memphis distribution center. Dollar Tree shuttered that center in May, but the company is facing a lawsuit over the situation filed in April by Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.
