Dreiling named chairman of Dollar General

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. Dollar General has appointed Richard Dreiling as chairman of the board, effective immediately. Dreiling will continue his role as ceo, a position he assumed in January.

Dreiling commented, "I am very proud to be a part of this exciting period in Dollar General’s history and am honored to be Chairman of this great company. Our success thus far is a result of the efforts of the executive management team and the entire Dollar General organization. I look forward to continuing to work with such a great team to bolster Dollar General’s position as one of the nation’s leading discount retailers.”

Dollar General reported third quarter sales of $2.6 billion, an increase of 12.4% over last year. Same-store sales increased 10.6% with customer traffic and average transaction amount contributing to the sales increase.

For the 2008 third quarter, the company reported a net loss of $7.3 million, after recording pre-tax costs of $34.5 million related to the proposed settlement of the shareholder lawsuit that arose out of the merger with KKR, compared with a net loss of $33 million in the 2007 third quarter.