MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores Inc. has appointed Mike Bloom, the top merchandising and supply chain executive at CVS Caremark Corp., as president and chief operating officer.
The deep discount store chain said Tuesday that Bloom’s hiring comes with the announcement that current president and COO R. James Kelly is retiring after 15 years with the company. Also with Kelly’s retirement, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer Dorlisa Flur has been promoted to vice chair of strategy and chief administrative officer.
Bloom and Flur will report to Family Dollar chairman and chief executive officer Howard Levine.
"A highly respected leader in the industry, Mike is a great addition to our team. With more than 30 years of operational experience in small-box retailing, he is a seasoned merchant with a proven track record of leading high-performing teams and delivering results," Levine said in a statement. "In addition to being a strong leader, Mike is passionate about the customer and driving their loyalty. In his new role, Mike will have responsibility for major operational functions, including store operations, merchandising, marketing, global sourcing and supply chain."
Most recently at CVS Caremark, Bloom served as executive vice president of merchandising, supply chain, marketing and advertising. He was promoted to that post in March 2010 after serving as senior vice president of merchandising and supply chain.
Last January, Bloom and Scott Baker, executive vice president of internal operations and real estate at CVS Caremark, were named to assume management of the company’s drug store business, at the time including more than 7,100 stores, as it searched for a new president for CVS/pharmacy after Larry Merlo was promoted to CEO. In late August, CVS Caremark named Macy’s executive Mark Cosby as CVS/pharmacy president, effective Oct. 1.
Bloom began his 20-year career with CVS in store operations and progressed through a various positions with increasing responsibility, including category manager, vice president of consumer health care and senior vice president of merchandising. Before joining CVS, he spent 10 years as a manager/executive with the Virginia-based Peoples Drug Stores and the Florida division of Toronto-based Shoppers Drug Mart.
"Today’s announcement reflects the result of several years of thoughtful discussion and planning as we prepared for Jim’s retirement," Levine stated. "We are pursuing an ambitious growth agenda to expand our market share and drive greater financial returns, and these leadership changes ensure that we have a strong management team in place to execute our plans."
Family Dollar operates more than 7,000 stores in rural and urban settings across 44 states.
