Kroger announced Monday that it hired former Walmart executive, Greg Foran, as its CEO. Foran was once president and CEO of Walmart’s U.S. division. Appointed back in July of 2014, at the time Walmart had weak comparable-store sales growth and a disappointing profit outlook, while Kroger, one of its top competitors in the grocery space, was riding a multi-year wave of success. Today, Walmart is the most profitable retailer, while Kroger is in a rough spot. It recently closed all Florida locations due to not being able to fund its Florida fulfillment centers due to not meeting financial goals.
As it stands, Kroger has been in a rough position, currently having zero active locations in Florida due to failing so many of its financial goals in the area that it has deemed the entire state as nonprofitable. Now, Foran faces the task of rejuvenating the sprawling company through its difficult period. Retail industry analysts have said that Foran’s reputation as an expert in managing large-scale retail operations makes him well suited to tackle the challenge of turning Kroger in a new direction. Foran’s experience especially was highlighted, as he spent nearly six years as the CEO of Air New Zealand, as well as served as president and CEO of Walmart China and Walmart Asia before assuming the top post at Walmart U.S. Earlier in his career, he worked for Australian supermarket chain Woolworths.
“Greg has a rare combination of meticulous attention to detail in each store, surrounds himself with outstanding people, and somehow manages to coordinate everything across thousands of locations,” said Thom Blischok, Chairman and CEO of The Dialogic Group, a large growth advisory service to grocers and other retailers. Still, while to some this decision seems obvious, Kroger took nearly a year to identify their new CEO. “It would have been disappointing if Kroger went some other route after 11 months,” said Arun Sundaram, senior vice president of CFRA Research (an unrelated research company).
Still, with Kroger being the largest traditional supermarket chain, Foran has an important role to play in helping them secure themselves within the industry once more. The planning for this pick took close to a year, so now many analysts are watching closely. While support for the choice is large, only time will tell if Kroger bounces back from their current slump.
