CINCINNATI, Oct. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co.
(NYSE: KR) today announced the retirement of Central division
President Katie Wolfram and the
promotion of Pam Matthews, currently
the QFC division president, to succeed her. Suzy Monford will join the company to serve as
the president of the QFC division.
"We are grateful for Katie's nearly 40 years of dedicated
service to our associates and customers, and we are excited to have
Pam and Suzy take on these indispensable leadership roles in our
company," said Rodney McMullen,
Kroger's chairman and CEO. "Both leaders bring successful and
distinguished retail experience to the roles and will help with the
execution of the Restock Kroger Plan that will bring
valuable changes to our customers, associates, communities and
shareholders."
Katie Wolfram to Retire after
38 Years of Service
Ms. Wolfram will retire from the
company after 38 years of distinguished service, effective
November 4.
"Katie has accomplished much in her career with Kroger and has
always been passionate about creating an inclusive and diverse work
culture," said Rodney McMullen,
Kroger's chairman and CEO. "She has been a valued leadership
partner across the company and Central division. We truly
appreciate the many contributions Katie has made to Kroger, and we
wish her and her family the best in retirement."
Ms. Wolfram was named to her current role in 2016 and has been
spearheading an aggressive growth strategy in the Central division
since joining the region as the vice president of merchandising in
2014. In the last two years, the company has invested nearly
$329 million in the central
Indiana market, adding five new
Marketplace stores and 12 new gas stations, remodeling and/or
expanding 14 existing stores, building a regional training center
and adding more than 1,400 new jobs to the region. The Central
Division operates 138 stores with more than 19,500 associates.
Ms. Wolfram began her career with Kroger in 1979 as an assistant
store manager in the Cincinnati-Dayton division. She went on to serve in
several leadership positions at Kroger's corporate office in
Cincinnati and with Kroger's
Manufacturing division. In 2005, she moved to Denver to join the King Soopers division as
vice president of merchandising, before joining the Central
division in 2014 to serve in the same role.
Ms. Wolfram was a leader for the first Cultural Council, a team
development and culture-building group, started at the corporate
office, and she started the Reach Higher initiative in Kroger
Manufacturing. Additionally, Ms. Wolfram represented Kroger as a
leader in the Network of Executive Women, Denver.
In retirement, she plans to move back to Denver to be near her daughter and
grandson.
Pam Matthews Promoted to President of Central
Division
Ms. Matthews, currently president of the QFC
division, succeeds Ms. Wolfram as president of Kroger's Central
division, effective October 23.
Ms. Matthews started with the company in 1980 in the Fred Meyer
division. She has held a variety of leadership roles in her 25-year
career with Fred Meyer, including store management, training,
corporate brand development, and merchandising for deli-bakery,
drug-general merchandise and grocery. Ms. Matthews also served as
director of deli-bakery merchandising and director of floral
merchandising and procurement at Kroger's corporate office in
Cincinnati before being promoted
to vice president of merchandising for the Central division in
2006. She moved to the Delta division as vice president of
merchandising in 2014 and was named vice president of operations in
2015. She was named president of the QFC division in 2016.
Suzy Monford Named President of QFC Division
Ms.
Monford joins the company to succeed Ms. Matthews as president of
QFC, effective October 23. Ms.
Monford is the former CEO of Andronico's Community Markets, a Bay
Area chain acquired by Albertsons in early 2017.
Prior to Andronico's, Ms. Monford was the head of innovation for
Woolworths Supermarkets in Australia, after spending 10 years as an
executive for H-E-B Central Market and H-E-B Grocery Company in
Texas.
Passionate about creating healthy communities, Ms. Monford is an
internationally-certified group exercise instructor and health
coach. She's been recognized as a Top Woman in Retail Tech by
Retail Info Systems (RIS), Top Woman in Grocery by Progressive
Grocer and a Top 25 Technological Disruptor by Supermarket
News.
She will be based at the division office in Seattle and oversee QFC's 65 stores in
Washington and Oregon.
At The Kroger Co., we are dedicated to our purpose: to Feed
the Human Spirit™. We are
450,000 associates who serve nearly nine million customers daily in
2,793 retail food stores under a variety of local banner names in
35 states and the District of
Columbia. Our Family of Companies operates an expanding
ClickList offering – a personalized order online service – in
addition to 2,258 pharmacies, 783 convenience stores, 307 fine
jewelry stores, 222 retail health clinics, 1,472 supermarket fuel
centers and 38 food production plants in the United States. Our Company has been
recognized as one of America's most generous companies for our
support of more than 100 Feeding America food bank partners, breast
cancer research and awareness, the military and their families, and
more than 145,000 community organizations including schools. As a
leader in supplier diversity, we are a proud member of the
Billion Dollar Roundtable.
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SOURCE The Kroger Co.