Dollar Tree Changes Investor Leadership Team
Dollar Tree Inc. has revealed that Randy Guiler, VP of investor relations, will retire from the company at the end of June. Guiler joined Dollar Tree in 2014 and has been instrumental in guiding the business’ investor relations efforts over the years.
“We want to thank Randy for his nearly 10 years of dedicated service to Dollar Tree,” said CFO Jeff Davis. “Randy has been a valuable member of our team and played a pivotal role in our evolution as a value retailer; we wish him all the best in his next chapter.”
Effective May 22, Robert LaFleur joined the organization as SVP, investor relations, reporting to Davis.
[Read more: "Dollar Tree Hires Former Dollar General Exec to Improve Supply Chain Performance"]
LaFleur joins Dollar Tree from Chewy Inc., where he was VP and head of investor relations. Prior to that, he held similar roles at Hilton Grand Vacations. Before embarking on his career in investor relations, LaFleur spent 20 years on Wall Street as an equity research analyst, covering the lodging, gaming, timeshare and leisure industries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in hotel administration from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and a master’s degree in real estate from New York University.
“As we continue on our business transformation journey, we are pleased to welcome Bob to further drive the financial strategy and investor relations function of our organization,” Davis said. “Bob brings deep industry knowledge, a proven track record and decades of relevant experience to the Dollar Tree team.”
Dollar Tree recently posted a rocky first-quarter earnings report amid its ongoing business transformation. While the company saw same-store sales across its enterprise increase 4.8% year over year, gross profit decreased 4.7% to $2.23 billion.
Gross margin declined 340 basis points to 30.5%, which the company said was driven by lower initial mark-on, an unfavorable sales mix and shrink, and was partly offset by lower freight costs.
According to chairman and CEO Rick Dreiling, the company is rapidly executing on a multifaceted plan to transform and improve the long-term operating performance of Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. He is encouraged by early progress, and believes both segments have a clear path to accelerated sales growth and margin expansion over the next three to five years.
“While we are maintaining our full-year 2023 sales outlook, we are adjusting our EPS outlook, as we expect the elevated shrink and unfavorable sales mix to persist through the balance of the year,” noted Dreiling. “We still expect earnings to be more back-end loaded this year as the benefits of lower ocean freight rates flow through. We are eager to share more details on the current operating environment and our longer-term strategic growth plans at our upcoming investor conference on June 21.”
Dollar Tree will host an investor conference in Norfolk, Va., on June 21. At the conference, Dreiling and Davis will be joined by members of the company’s executive management team to provide an in-depth overview of the company and its business segments, including growth strategies, capital allocation priorities and financial objectives, as well as the company’s multiyear outlook.
Chesapeake, Va.-based Dollar Tree operated 16,419 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of April 29. The company is No. 21 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
