Dollar General promotes Kelly Dilts to CFO

Dollar General on Thursday announced the promotion of Kelly Dilts to executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective May 1.

Dilts, who has been with the discounter since 2019, replaces John Garratt, who is retiring as the retailer’s president and CFO on June 2.

Dilts previously served as Dollar General’s SVP of finance, with oversight on financial planning, analysis, procurement, margin planning, decision science, analytics and investor relations.

Dollar General's incoming CFO Kelly Dilts / Photo courtesy: Dollar General

“I’m confident in Kelly’s ability to lead Dollar General as CFO based on her meaningful leadership and contributions since joining our team in 2019,” CEO Jeff Owen said in a statement. “Kelly steps into the role after several years of strategic succession development with John and additional senior leaders across the business. I am confident she will not only thrive as CFO but continue to elevate our finance team.”

Dilts, who has 30 years of retail finance experience, previously served as EVP and CFO at Francesca’s Holdings Corp. She was also chief accounting officer and SVP of finance and investor relations at Tailored Brands.

Garratt announced his retirement after nearly a decade with Dollar General in January. At the time, the Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based retailer said it was following its succession plan and would not be conducting an external search.

Garratt had served as the company’s president and CFO since September. He said he is looking forward to spending more time with his family.

“John’s retirement comes after an outstanding career as an accomplished and trusted finance executive and most recently as our president and CFO,” Owen said in a statement at the time. “His exceptional business and financial acumen, coupled with his strategic vision, have positioned the company for profitable growth.”

Last month, Dollar General said it continues to see strong demand for grocery and that it is increasing its selection of private-brand items across departments, including candy and snacks, perishables, pet food and over-the-counter health care products.

The retailer also continues to expand its DG Fresh initiative, noting that it now self-distributes perishable products to its more than 19,000 stores from 12 facilities around the country. Dollar General said it plans to sell fresh produce at more than 5,000 locations by the end of the year.