Dollar Tree names Jonathan Leiken chief legal officer

Dollar Tree on Monday named Jonathan Leiken chief legal officer and secretary.

Leiken comes to the discounter with more than 20 years of legal experience, including serving as chief legal officer and secretary at Diebold Nixdorf and as a partner at global law firm Jones Day.

“Jon is a seasoned attorney and business leader with proven expertise across a number of industries, including the retail and financial sectors,” CEO Rick Dreiling said in a statement. “His credentials, ranging from corporate governance and law to regulatory compliance and commercial litigation, make him uniquely suited for this role.”

The Chesapeake, Virginia-based discounter has seen significant turnover in its c-suite over the past year or so.

In June 2022, Dollar Tree announced that its COO, CIO, chief legal officer and chief strategy officer had all left their posts and that the CFO would depart once a successor was named.

A few months after that, Dollar Tree named a reconstituted board, with Dreiling as executive chairman. He was named CEO, replacing Mike Witynski, in January.

Dollar Tree’s chief legal officer post had been held by former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) member Janet Dhillon, who vacated the role in February—just four months after starting, according to her LinkedIn profile.

John Mitchell Jr., the company’s senior deputy general counsel, had been serving as acting general counsel, according to reports.

Dollar Tree operates more than 16,000 stores and has more than 200,000 employees in 48 states and five Canadian provinces.

“I’m delighted to join Dollar Tree’s talented group of senior executives and legal professionals, and look forward to serving the company and its stakeholders as the organization continues on its business transformation journey,” Leiken said in a statement.

Dollar Tree last week reported that its grocery business is surging while discretionary sales continue to lag. Net sales rose 8.2% to $7.32 billion for the quarter ended July 29, but gross margins fell 220 basis points.