Dive Brief:
- Dollar General named seven people to new leadership roles on Thursday, according to an emailed press release. The leadership changes include three people who are new to or rejoining the company and four people who were promoted within the retailer’s ranks.
- Among those joining the company are Tony Rogers, who will serve as Dollar General’s chief marketing officer. Rogers most recently served as chief marketing officer at Signet Jewelers, and has held several senior executive roles including as chief member officer at Sam’s Club and chief marketing officer at Walmart.
- The retailer also named new leaders for asset protection, merchandising managers for health and beauty and holiday events, toys, and lawn and garden; and multiple leaders within store operations.
Dive Insight:
Dollar General named new executives and leaders this week as it looks to expand its store footprint and manage shrink.
That includes a new chief marketing officer with over 25 years of experience. Rogers will lead the development and execution of the retailer’s marketing, branding and personalization strategies across all channels.
Rogers’ “proven ability to drive innovative personalized marketing strategies that enhance brand positioning, connect with consumers, and drive growth will elevate our customer engagement and support our key initiatives here at Dollar General,” according to Emily Taylor, the company’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer.
Additionally, Natalie McConnell has joined Dollar General as the division merchandising manager for holiday events, toys, and lawn and garden. McConnell will develop and lead the business strategy for the company’s largest seasonal categories. She has more than 20 years of merchandising and planning experience.
Kaushik Paul also rejoined the company as division vice president of store operations. Paul will lead 10 regions across Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas covering more than 2,100 stores. He was previously a regional director and division vice president at Dollar General.
The others named to new leadership roles are:
- Tim Bartlett has been promoted to vice president of asset protection. Bartlett joined the company eight years ago and was promoted to division vice president last year. His past positions include district manager, regional director, human resources director and director of store operations in emerging markets. In that capacity, he supported the launch of Dollar General’s first store in Mexico.
- Matt Frame has been promoted to division vice president of store operations. In his new role, Frame will lead sales, talent strategies and performance optimizations for 10 regions across the Southeastern United States, covering more than 2,000 stores. He joined the company in 2016 and most recently was director of operations at Popshelf before a promotion to senior director in 2022.
- Jimmy Nguyen has been promoted to vice president and division merchandise manager of health and beauty. In that role, Nguyen will oversee merchandise buying strategy, assortment and sales planning initiatives within the non-consumables category of health and beauty. He joined the company in 2012 and most recently served as senior director of merchandising with previous roles that include merchandising planning analyst and brand manager.
- Brett Sorensen has been promoted to division vice president of store operations. Sorensen will lead more than 2,300 stores in 10 regions across nine states in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. Sorensen joined the company in 2018 as a district manager.
The new leaders will helm a retailer with a substantial nationwide store footprint. Dollar General marked the opening of its 20,000th store in the U.S. in February. The company was able to reach that milestone by focusing on smaller, rural markets, industry experts previously told Retail Dive. Dollar General said in March it plans to open 800 new stores this year. Meanwhile, rival Dollar Tree, is moving to close stores.
During the first quarter, Dollar General’s net sales rose 6.1% year over year to $9.9 billion, driven by new store sales and same-store sales, the company said in May. The company also said it plans to remove self-checkouts for most of its stores as part of its efforts to reduce shrink, an issue that is “the most significant headwind in our business,” CEO Todd Vasos said at the time.
