Richard W. Dreiling, the chairman and chief executive of the discount retailer Dollar General, said on Friday that he was retiring. The move is effective May 30, 2015, or until the company names a successor.
“Dollar General is in a strong position today, and I’m confident it has excellent prospects for the future,” Mr. Dreiling, 60, said in a statement. “After considerable reflection, I am at a point where it is appropriate to begin to plan for my retirement.”
Mr. Dreiling’s decision comes as Dollar General’s smaller peer, Family Dollar, finds itself in the crosshairs of the activist investor Carl C. Icahn, who disclosed a 9.39 percent stake in the company earlier this month. In a letter sent on June 19 to Howard R. Levine, Family Dollar’s chief executive, Mr. Icahn urged Family Dollar to sell itself “immediately” and demanded that it put three of his representatives on its board.
Mr. Icahn has indicated that he would push for a merger between Family Dollar and Dollar General. Dollar General is about 2.5 times bigger by market capitalization than Family Dollar.
Both Dollar General and Family Dollar have found themselves under pressure from shareholders after disappointing earnings in recent quarters.
Mr. Dreiling assumed his position as chief executive of Dollar General in January 2008 and was appointed chairman the following December. He said he would serve in his position through a transition period once his replacement is found. The board of the company said it would conduct an internal and external search for its next chief.
Before joining Dollar General, Mr. Dreiling was the president and chief executive of the drugstore company Duane Reade.
“Rick Dreiling has proven that he is clearly one of retail’s leading C.E.O.’s,” Mike Calbert, a director at the company, said in a statement. “The board is confident the company is well-positioned as we search for a new C.E.O.”
Dollar General went public in 2009 through the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, raising $716.1 million. At the time, the offering was the biggest by a retail company in 14 years, according to Dealogic. During Mr. Dreiling’s time as chief executive, annual sales increased more than 80 percent, to $17.5 billion in 2013, the company said. Its store count also increased by 38 percent, to more than 11,000 stores in 40 states.
Dollar General’s stock was down about 7 percent, to $57.26 early Friday afternoon.