CINCINNATI, July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Kroger Co. today announced Joe Grieshaber has been named President of Kroger's Dillon Food Stores Division, replacing John Bays, who is retiring after 42 years with Kroger.
"Joe's merchandising and management experience will serve our associates and customers well. We look forward to Joe's leadership at Dillons as we continue to focus on improving our customers' overall shopping experience," said Rodney McMullen, President and Chief Operating Officer of Kroger.
Mr. Grieshaber, 52, began his career with Kroger in 1983 as a store manager trainee in Nashville. During his career, he has held a variety of leadership roles including meat merchandiser, zone manager, and vice president of merchandising. Most recently, Mr. Grieshaber has served as Group Vice President of Perishables Merchandising and Procurement for Kroger, a position he has held since 2003. In that role, he has been responsible for fresh and natural foods throughout Kroger's family of stores. Mr. Grieshaber has actively supported community organizations during his career, including the Special Olympics. He and his wife Vickie have three grown daughters.
Mr. Grieshaber joined Mr. McMullen and the Kroger team in wishing Mr. Bays and his family all the best as he retires. "We are very grateful to John for his tremendous contributions to our company during his career with Kroger. Under John's leadership, Dillons continued to grow and sharpen its focus on serving customers."
Dillon Food Stores, headquartered in Hutchinson, KS, operates 91 stores in Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska and employs over 11,500 associates. Dillon Food Stores has been a part of the Hutchinson community for more than 90 years and focuses its charitable efforts on supporting hunger relief, health and wellness initiatives, local schools, and grassroots organizations in the communities it serves. For more information on Dillon Food Stores, please visit our website at http://www.dillons.com/
Kroger, the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer, employs more than 334,000 associates who serve customers in 2,470 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banner names including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith's. The Company also operates 779 convenience stores, 375 fine jewelry stores, 909 supermarket fuel centers and 40 food processing plants in the U.S. For more information about Kroger, please visit http://www.kroger.com/.
The Kroger Co.
CONTACT: Sheila Lowrie, Dillon Food Stores, +1-620-669-3116; Meghan
Glynn, Kroger, +1-513-762-1304
Web Site: http://www.kroger.com/
