Dollar General Announces CEO Transition, Dreiling To Retire In May 2015

(RTTNews) - Discount retailer Dollar General Corp. (DG) announced Friday that Chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling in a years time. Dreiling has informed the board of his intention to retire as CEO effective May 30, 2015 or as and when a successor is named.

Dreiling has also agreed to remain the chairman during a transition period to assist the new CEO. The Board of Directors is launching an internal and external search for a CEO.

Meanwhile, the company noted that Dreiling's retirement date and his continuation as chairman are expected to be finalized as part of a mutually agreed retirement agreement.

"Rick Dreiling has proven that he is clearly one of retail's leading CEOs. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I want to thank Rick for his outstanding leadership. During his tenure as CEO, Rick has driven significant shareholder value and led the Company's improvement on essentially every key operating metric," Lead Director Mike Calbert said in a statement.

Goodlettsville, Tennesse-based leading small-box retailer noted that Dreiling, age 60, has been at the helm of the company for more than six years as CEO since joining it in January 2008. He was also named chairman of the Board in December 2008.

Dreiling has the distinction of spearheaded Dollar General's re-emergence as a public company through a successful Initial Public Offering in November 2009. The company said he has also recruited and developed an outstanding management team and strengthened its culture and mission.

Under Dreiling's leadership in 2013, the company's annual sales soared more than 80 percent to $17.5 billion, and store count grew 38 percent to more than 11,000 stores in 40 states.

"Dollar General is in a strong position today, and I'm confident it has excellent prospects for the future. After considerable reflection, I am at a point where it is appropriate to begin to plan for my retirement. I plan to work with the Board of Directors on recruiting and mentoring a new CEO," Dreiling stated.

Dreiling came to Dollar General after serving a chairman and CEO of Duane Reade Holdings, Inc. from November 2005. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president and CFO of Longs Drug Stores Corp. since 2003.

Earlier, he has served in senior executive positions at food and drug retailer Safeway, Inc., and also at Vons, a Southern California food and drug division of Safeway. He began his career in 1969 as a part-time clerk with Safeway in Kansas and he worked his way through the retail ranks before being promoted in 1998 to president of Vons.

In Friday's regular trading session, DG is currently trading at $58.83, down $2.85 or 4.62% on a volume of 3.65 million shares.