CINCINNATI, July 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co.
(NYSE: KR) today announced the retirement of Joe Grieshaber, senior vice president and chief
merchant, after more than 37 years of distinguished service,
effective August 15. Grieshaber will
be succeeded by Stuart W. Aitken,
currently senior vice president of alternative business and CEO of
84.51˚, Kroger's data analytics subsidiary. Yael Cosset, senior
vice president and chief information officer, will assume
responsibility for alternative business and 84.51˚.
"Today's leadership announcements are consistent with our
positive track record of strong succession planning and will help
us to continue to drive transformation of our business and culture,
focusing on speed, action and agility to deliver value for our
customers and shareholders," said Rodney
McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "We are greatly
appreciative of the unique talents and contributions that each of
these leaders has provided to Kroger to create a best-in-class
experience for our associates and customers."
Joe Grieshaber, Senior Vice
President and Chief Merchant, Announces
Retirement
Grieshaber started his career with Kroger in
1983 as a store management trainee in Nashville, Tenn. Since then, he has served in
numerous roles, including as a meat merchandiser and district
manager for the Michigan division.
Later in his career, Grieshaber was promoted to vice president of
merchandising of the Columbus division then assumed the role of
corporate group vice president of perishables merchandising and
procurement. He was named president of the Dillons division in 2010
and served as president of both the Columbus and Fred Meyer
divisions before being promoted to his current role in 2019.
"We thank Joe for his 37 years of service, leading with
excellence by developing and uplifting associates and creating and
executing innovative, results-oriented strategies," said McMullen.
"He's been instrumental to Kroger as an accomplished leader with a
passion for people and results, and we wish him all the best in
retirement."
In his retirement, Grieshaber and his wife Vickie look forward
to spending more time with their children and grandchildren, and
once safe, they plan to travel more.
Stuart Aitken Named Chief Merchant and Marketing
Officer
Aitken, currently senior vice president of
alternative business and CEO of 84.51˚, will succeed Grieshaber,
effective August 1. As chief merchant
and marketing officer, Aitken will be responsible for sales,
pricing, planning, promotions, execution, analytics, ecommerce and
digital merchandising, and Our Brands. He will also retain
responsibility for marketing.
"Stuart's outstanding leadership and deep history of putting the
customer first through data-driven decisions and personalization
will further transform our business for growth," stated McMullen.
"Bringing together merchandising and marketing under one leader
will strengthen our brand promise of Fresh for
Everyone."
Aitken was named a group vice president five years ago and has
led 84.51˚ as CEO since its inception in 2015. As the leader of
84.51°, Aitken played a critical role in integrating data-based
decision making into Kroger's merchandising
organization. 84.51° combines customer data, predictive
analytics and marketing strategies to drive business decisions,
sales growth and customer loyalty using a sophisticated,
proprietary suite of tools for Kroger and more than 300
consumer-packaged-goods companies in the U.S.
In January 2019, Aitken was
promoted to senior vice president of alternative business, tasked
with managing several groups, including 84.51°, Kroger Precision
Marketing and Kroger Personal Finance. As head of marketing as
well, Aitken guided the company through its Fresh for
Everyone brand transformation campaign in November
2019.
Prior to Kroger, he acquired many years of marketing, academic
and technical experience across a variety of industries and held
various leadership roles with other companies, including Michael's
Stores, Safeway, Inc. and dunnhumby USA, where he served as CEO from 2009 to
2015.
Originally from Scotland,
Aitken holds a bachelor's degree with distinction from Queen
Margaret University and a master's degree in Information Management
from the University of Strathclyde. He
serves on the boards of InvenTrust Properties Corp. and the Food
Marketing Institute. Aitken is also a member of the Cincinnati
Business Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of
Cleveland.
Yael Cosset Assumes Responsibility for Alternative Business
and 84.51˚
Cosset, senior vice president and chief
information officer, will assume responsibility for the alternative
profit business portfolio and 84.51°, effective August 1. Cosset will continue to lead Kroger
Technology & Digital.
"Yael will continue to play an essential role in accelerating
our grocery-to-growth business model," said McMullen. "His
exemplary leadership, vision and customer-first obsession to make
people's lives easier using technology and data will help us to
create more personalized and engaging shopping experiences and
drive more trips."
In January 2017, Cosset was
promoted to group vice president and chief digital officer, where
he led the company's overall digital growth strategy, ecommerce
expansion and Vitacost business. He was named senior vice president
and CIO in May 2019, assuming
responsibility for Kroger Technology and blending two talented
teams to form Kroger Technology & Digital. Previously, he
served as chief commercial officer and chief information officer of
84.51°.
Prior to Kroger, he held several leadership roles at dunnhumby,
including executive vice president of consumer markets, global
chief information officer and CEO of KSS Retail – an enterprise
software company.
Cosset has been a member of 84.51°'s advisory board for the last
three years, helping shape the business's strategy and direction.
In February 2020, Cosset was
appointed to the Kohl's Corporation Board of Directors.
Originally from France, Cosset
graduated from the Classes Preparatoires aux Grandes Ecoles with a
major in Mathematics and earned a master's degree from the Graduate
Business School - Ecole Supèrieure
de Commerce de Chambéry.
In 2019, Cosset was recognized by Business Insider as one
of the 10 people transforming retail. And in 2017, he was
recognized by Retail Leader as one of the 17 leaders to
watch.
To download headshots of Aitken, Cosset and Grieshaber
visit here.
About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are
Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the
Human Spirit®. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half
a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily
through a seamless shopping experience under a variety
of banner names. We are committed to creating
#ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us,
visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
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SOURCE The Kroger Co.