Dollar General Undergoes More Leadership Changes

Following a slew of leadership rearrangements in May, Dollar General has once again promoted various executives across the company. The following appointments are effective immediately. 

• Mark Banister has been promoted to SVP, in-store experience. In this role, Banister will lead the space management, project execution and support, fixtures and supplies, and store-planning teams. He joined Dollar General in 2009 and has held various roles of increasing responsibility leading the in-store experience teams.
• Dr. Johné Battle is now the SVP of diversity and inclusion. Since joining Dollar General in 2020, he has been instrumental in advancing the company’s efforts to extend its operating priority to “invest in diverse teams through development, empowerment and inclusion.”
• Ivan Reeves was promoted to SVP of supply chain human resources. He joined Dollar General in 2002 as part of the human resources team. Reeves will lead supply chain human resources for the company’s current 28 distribution centers, as well as its growing private-fleet network. Most recently, Reeves held the position of VP of supply chain and human resources.
• Michael Auyeung has been promoted to VP of merchandising. With more than 35 years of merchandising experience, Auyeung joined the company’s pOpshelf merchandising team in 2019 and will lead beauty, health, stationary, arts and crafts, toys, and electronics merchandising. pOpshelf, which launched in fall 2020, currently operates 66 stores in seven states. 
• Rick Channell is now VP, division merchandise manager. He joined Dollar General in 2011, and his most recent role was senior director of merchandising. Channell will lead teams across multiple categories, with responsibility for merchandising strategies in health, beauty and personal care.
• Scott Miller was promoted to VP of space management. Since joining the company in 2009, Miller continues to support store operations teams, merchant groups and vendor communities through planogram construction, database administration, third-party merchandising operations and new store publication functions.
• Allen Warch has joined Dollar General as VP, division merchandise manager with leadership of fresh merchandise. He previously gained extensive experience in fresh produce procurement and merchandising at Price Chopper Supermarkets and The Kroger Co.

For its first fiscal quarter, Dollar General saw a 4.2% jump in net sales to reach $8.8 billion, but same-store sales were down 0.1%, and net income fell 18.5% in that same period. The company credited the increase in net sales to positive contributions from new stores, and cited a decline in customer traffic and lower sales of seasonal apparel and home products for the same-store dip. Despite the lower net income and slightly lower same-store sales, Dollar General remains optimistic for the second half of the year and upgraded its financial outlook.

Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Dollar General operated 18,356 stores in 47 states as of April 29. The company is No. 15 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.