Dollar General president, COO leaves for Wal-Mart post

-- Home Textiles Today, 10/12/2004 12:27:00 PM

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Jackson has quit the company to take the position of executive vice president of the People Division at Wal-Mart.

He will be responsible for human resources strategy and programs for the company's 1.5 million associates. Jackson will also serve as a strategic advisor to other members of the company's senior management team.

The move is effective Friday.

Jackson, who will report to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, will lead a range of human resource areas, stated the company, including planning, training, executive development, recruiting, succession planning, human resources technology, culture change and regulatory issues. He succeeds Coleman Peterson, who retired as executive vice president of the People Division in April of this year.

"We wish Lawrence the best of luck," said Dollar General's Chairman and CEO David Perdue. "For the time being, I will reassume his responsibilities, and, under the leadership of our experienced executive management team, Dollar General will continue to focus on serving our customers and on executing our initiatives for this year and our strategic plan for the longer term."

Jackson was a consultant with McKinsey and Company's New York office from 1979 to 1981. He joined the Pepsi Cola Bottling Group in 1981 and held a variety of positions there, becoming vice president and general manager of the company's Southeast Division in 1992. He was promoted to senior vice president of Worldwide Operations for PepsiCo Food Systems in 1994. Jackson left to become senior vice president of Supply Operations for Safeway, Inc., food stores in 1997 and joined Dollar General six years later.