Dollar Tree names new CEO

There’s been a changing of the guard at Dollar Tree.

The discounter announced that Gary Philbin, who joined the company in 2001 and was named CEO in 2017, is retiring as chief executive after a 40-plus year career in retail. He will be succeeded by Michael Witynski, currently the enterprise president of Dollar Tree. Philbin will stay on as an executive and board member until Sept. 23, 2020.

Witynski joined Dollar Tree in 2010 as senior VP of stores and was named president and COO of Dollar Tree Stores in 2017. He was promoted to enterprise president in 2019, responsible for leading the merchandising, store operations and supply chain functions for both the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar brands. Prior to joining Dollar Tree, Witynski held senior leadership roles in merchandising, marketing, private brands and operations during his 29 years in the grocery industry.

“Under Mike’s leadership, we have driven outstanding performance — first at Dollar Tree and most recently at Family Dollar,” stated Bob Sasser, executive chairman, Dollar Tree. “He helped put in place a broad range of operational and talent initiatives to position our company for an even more successful future, as witnessed by the recent successes at Family Dollar.”

Sasser continued, “The board and I are grateful to Gary Philbin for his steadfast commitment and tireless efforts over nearly two decades to help make Dollar Tree the company it is today. Gary’s leadership as CEO brought our banners together as one company in Chesapeake. Through his efforts, we have a succession plan in place to ensure the smoothest possible leadership transition.”

Dollar Tree operated 15,370 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of May 2, 2020. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada.