Kroger CFO J. Michael Schlotman will retire from his role effective April 3, when he will be succeeded by Gary Millerchip, CEO of the grocer’s Personal Finance division. Schlotman has been at Kroger for more than 30 years and has held the CFO role since 2000.
Schlotman will remain an Executive VP and continue to sit on the senior leadership team to support the company during a transition period lasting until December 28, 2019.
Millerchip is taking on the CFO role at a time when the company is moving full-speed ahead with its Restock Kroger initiative to redefine the food and grocery experience. The retailer is seeking alternative profit streams to help reach its goal of $400 million in operating profit by 2020. Earnings from partnerships, media, CPG insights and Kroger Personal Finance are already expanding at a 16% compound annual growth rate, with 28% growth projected through 2020 and 34% projected through 2022.
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As CEO of Kroger Personal Finance, Millerchip heads a division that delivered financial and retail services like home equity loans, first mortgages, credit cards and identity theft protection within the company’s stores. Millerchip also led the integration of Kroger’s corporate strategic initiatives, such as the recent sales partnership with Walgreens that included setting up Kroger-branded stores within 13 of the pharmacy chain’s locations.
Kroger Divests Digital Coupon Division
Kroger has sold You Technology, its digital coupon and rebate publishing unit, to Inmar, a technology and data analytics firm, for an undisclosed sum. By divesting the division and its online engagement capabilities and combining them with Inmar’s experience in managing open platforms, the deal is designed to improve coupon and rebate accessibility and expand it for CPGs.
Following the acquisition, Inmar will continue working closely with Kroger and 84.51⁰, the grocer’s data science subsidiary, to bring digital offers to the company’s customers, according to David Mounts, Chairman and CEO of Inmar.
