Dollar General has promoted Jeffery Owen to the role of COO, where he will oversee store operations, merchandising and the supply chain. Steven Sunderland will take Owen’s former role as EVP of Store Operations, where he will be in charge of the retailer’s nearly 16,000 locations, as well as real estate and new store development.
Owen oversaw the addition of 3,500 stores and a 35% sales increase during his time as EVP of Store Operations, which started in June 2015. With more than 25 years of retail experience, he previously worked at Dollar General during an earlier part of his career, first as a store manager in 1992 and later in other roles of increasing responsibility.
Sunderland joined Dollar General in 2014 as SVP of Store Operations, where he oversaw locations in the southern half of the country. Previous roles have included SVP of Retail Operations at both Office Depot and OfficeMax, as well as COO of Bally Total Fitness.
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Dollar General is beefing up its leadership during a time of prosperity for the company: net sales grew 8.4% to $7 billion in Q2, while same-store sales rose 4%. The increases were driven improvements in both average order value and customer traffic, and leave the company well-positioned to deal with potential blowback from upcoming tariffs on Chinese goods.
