Dive Brief:

• Dollar Tree on Monday announced that Gary Philbin has been promoted to CEO, effective immediately. Former CEO Bob Sasser, who has been with the company since 1999 and held the CEO spot since 2004, will assume the role of executive chairman of the board, according to a company press release.

• Philbin, who most recently served as enterprise president, joined the company in 2001 as senior vice president of stores. He was promoted to chief operating officer in 2007, president and COO in 2013 and president and COO of Family Dollar in 2015 upon the acquisition of the chain.

• During Sasser’s tenure, the dollar store chain has grown to include more than 14,500 stores and 180,000 employees. "I have been planning leadership succession for some time and we are confident this will be a seamless transition," Sasser said in a company statement.

Dive Insight:

Dollar Tree is opening 650 new stores this year and enjoying its moment in the sun even as many retailers scramble to close unprofitable stores and get a handle on mounting debt. Revenue this year is projected to surpass $22 billion, and the planned executive shakeup comes on the heels of a healthy second quarter: Q2 net sales rose 5.7% to $5.28 billion and the company raised its guidance for the year, suggesting that Dollar Tree is shrugging off increased price competition from Walmart.

During Sasser’s tenure, the company completed six acquisitions, including the $9.1 billion takeover of Family Dollar stores in 2015. The company’s market cap has grown from roughly $2.3 billion to nearly $20 billion in that time, according to the company. "We have built a solid and scalable infrastructure," Sasser said in a statement. "We have room to grow and tremendous opportunities to serve more customers in more ways, while increasing returns for our long-term shareholders."

Sasser added that he and Philbin share the same values and "common vision for the future of Dollar Tree’s future." Don’t expect store openings to slow down. Just a few weeks ago, Sasser pointed to "years of growth ahead" on an earnings call with analysts.

Philbin is taking over the CEO seat as the dollar store sector overall is seeing booming growth. Dollar Tree and Family Dollar together control about 36% of the dollar store market, trailing behind rival Dollar General, according to Nielsen data. According to research firm GlobalData Retail, sales at dollar stores grew from $30 billion to $45 billion between 2010 and 2015, a 50% growth clip that far outpaced the 17% growth seen by retail overall.