Kroger promotes 25-year veteran to merchandising, marketing lead role
A grocery giant is announcing an upcoming change to its C-suite.
The Kroger Co. has announced that Stuart Aitken is stepping down as senior VP, chief merchandising and marketing officer after nearly four and a half years to pursue other professional opportunities. Aitken will remain in his role at Kroger through Dec. 31, 2024. Mary Ellen Adcock, Kroger's senior VP of operations, will succeed him as chief merchandising and marketing officer.
"On behalf of the Kroger Board and management team, I want to thank Stuart for his work to evolve Kroger's brand while bringing exciting, innovative products to our shelves," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "He played an instrumental role in overseeing dunnhumby's integration and establishing 84.51º [Kroger’s retail analytics business]. We wish Stuart and his family all the best as they embark on a new chapter."
Adcock joined Kroger in 1999, and has served in positions of increasing importance ever since. She has been Kroger's senior VP of operations since 2019. In this role, she leads strategic operations for the company's more than 2,700 stores across 35 states supporting more than 416,000 associates and serving 11 million customers every day. Adcock oversees customer experience, associate experience, asset protection, process change and productivity improvement initiatives, and is responsible for maintaining food safety and regulatory standards.
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As senior VP of operations, Adcock helped deliver more than $1 billion in annual operations savings for six consecutive years. She also played a lead role in operationalizing Zero Hunger | Zero Waste, Kroger's commitment to end hunger in the communities it serves and eliminate waste as a company. She led the organization in achieving 100% store participation in the company's surplus food rescue program for the first time.
In 2022, Adcock received the Top Women in Grocery Trailblazer award from Chain Store Age’s sister publication Progressive Grocer.
"Mary Ellen is a respected leader both within Kroger and our industry," said McMullen. "Her deep strategic experience in her past 25 years with Kroger in roles of increasing responsibility will continue to drive value for customers and growth for our business and associates."
Valerie Jabbar and Kenny Kimball, who oversee Kroger operating divisions, and group VP of retail operations Paula Kash, who leads enterprise retail operations, including asset protection, corporate food technology and e-commerce operations, will continue in their current roles but will now report to McMullen.
