Dollar General: new president, strategic changes

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/29/2006 1:37:00 PM

Goodlettsville,Tenn.– Dollar General has named David Bere president and coo, and the retailer also said it will close about 400 stores during 2007.

Bere, who has served on the board of directors since 2002, will report to chairman and ceo David Perdue. He was most recently corporate vp of Ralcorp Holdings, and was president and ceo of Bakery Chef, Inc., a manufacturer of frozen bakery products that was acquired by Ralcorp Holdings. He previously was president of the Breakfast and Golden Grain divisions of The Quaker Oats Company.

In addition to the store closings, the new-store opening schedule will be trimmed back from 600 this year to 300 to 400 in each of the next two years. The current inventory system will be scrapped in favor of a program to keep “fresher” goods in stock. The company also said it will authorize a share repurchase of up to $500 million.

The $8.6 billion deep-discounter currently operates 8,276 stores. HTT research showed the company had home textiles sales of $126 million in 2005.