Dollar General Announces Several New Leadership Promotions

Following the appointment of a new president John Garratt, discount retailer Dollar General has announced several officer promotions.

The nine new promotions bolster Dollar General’s leadership across several areas. Like other dollar chains, the retailer has seen recent success as customers seek cheaper products and private brands to combat ongoing inflation.

Shweta Bhatia has joined Dollar General as senior vice president of technology engineering. Bhatia brings more than 20 years of retail, technology and leadership experience in solution delivery and transformational strategic initiatives to the IT team. In this role, she will lead Dollar General’s technology product engineering plus technology and data engineering domains.

Zak Brining has been promoted to senior vice president of corporate store operations. In this role, Brining will continue overseeing store operations workforce management, communication and compliance, and store process improvement while adding responsibilities in store facilities management. He joined Dollar General in 2016 and has held roles of increasing responsibility in store operations.

Donny Lau has been promoted to senior vice president and chief strategy officer. Lau joined Dollar General in 2017 and most recently served as vice president, investor relations and corporate strategy. In this role, he will continue focusing on developing and evolving the retailer’s strategic vision and initiatives, implementing strategic partnerships and identifying long-term growth catalysts.

Jim Sullivan has been promoted to senior vice president of store operations with responsibility for more than 8,000 locations across the northern half of the U.S. He joined Dollar General in 2003 as a regional director and has held roles of increasing responsibility including divisional vice president of two divisions. Sullivan will continue to provide training support for field leaders, elevating operations and merchandising acumen across the enterprise. 

Rich Szellan has been promoted to senior vice president of procurement and margin improvement. He joined Dollar General in 2009 as senior director of merchandising operations and has held roles of increasing responsibility in procurement, global sourcing and private brands and in 2017 was promoted to vice president of marketing and private brands. In his new role, Szellan will expand his role in driving profitability and procurement, including supplier diversity.

Dan Connow has been promoted to vice president of store operations. He joined the company in 2017 as director of demand chain management and most recently served as senior director of store operations. In his new role he will be responsible for workforce management and labor planning in addition to his current responsibilities over process improvement.

Maty Kiser has joined Dollar General as vice president of end user support. She brings more than 30 years of experience in technology-related roles across multiple industries, including expertise in enterprise-level change management transforming how organizations work with a customer-first perspective. In this role, Kiser will lead the Dollar General End User Support Services team providing customer service support, both internally and externally. 

Matt Sikes has joined Dollar General as vice president and chief compliance officer. Sikes’ 20+ years of experience, including several years in retail and financial service sectors, will bring a focus on building international compliance and protecting corporate brands to Dollar General. In this role, he will collaborate with multiple teams to ensure the company continues to incorporate compliance into its operations.

Finally, Kevin Walker has been promoted to vice president of investor relations. He joined Dollar General in 2010 as a senior staff accountant and earned roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as senior director of investor relations in 2019. In this role, Walker will manage the company’s relationships with the investment community, helping communicate earnings, growth benchmarks and long-term strategy.

Based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., Dollar General operates more than 18,560 stores in 47 states.