Kroger chief financial officer to retire in April

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) 162 views 

Kroger announced Tuesday (Dec. 18) J. Michael Schlotman, its chief financial officer for the past 18 years, is retiring effective April 3. He will be succeeded by Gary Millerchip, who has headed up Kroger’s personal finance division since 2010.

Schlotman has logged more than 30 years at Kroger, and during that time the company invested heavily in digital capacities as more shoppers are buying food online. Kroger invested in British online retailer Ocado and Home Chef, a meal-kit startup in the U.S. Kroger, like competitor Walmart, also has looked for partnership opportunities with pilot tests with Walgreens and it shed its smaller convenience formats in early 2018 for $2.15 billion.

Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said he expects a smooth transition between Schlotman and Millerchip.

Kroger is the second-largest grocery retailer behind Walmart in the U.S with 3,028 stores, including 2,765 supermarkets and 263 jewelers as of the third quarter. Kroger grew fiscal 2018 revenue by 6.35% with $122.662 billion in sales.