Kroger Announces Retirement of Katie Wolfram and Names New Leadership for the Central and QFC Divisions

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Oct 17, 2017, 14:00 ET

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.

SOURCE The Kroger Co.