On Paper, Foran Checks Off Every Box Kroger Needs

It was slightly more than a month after former Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen was forced out of the top job last March for ethical reasons that I began to hear the name Greg Foran bandied about the trade.

But even the mention of a talented executive like Foran seemed a bit counterintuitive since Kroger had never hired a chief executive in its 143-year history who wasn’t homegrown. And Foran himself was based 8,500 miles in his native New Zealand finishing out his last six months as CEO of Air Zealand, a job he took in 2020.

Certainly, Kroger needed a major reset. While McMullen produced solid numbers during his nearly 11 years as Kroger’s top dog, a series of questionable business decisions and an increasingly myopic view on how to improve its culture made the decision to seek an outsider not only logical, but necessary.

In McMullen’s absence, interim chief executive Ron Sargent did a good job – Kroger’s financials continued to be healthy and Sargent and the board made the difficult decision to begin to “shed the sheds.” Specifically, in a practice that other retailers have subsequently followed, Kroger announced that it would close three existing digitally-driven fulfillment centers in Maryland, Florida and Wisconsin. In 2018, fueled by the growth and potential of online delivery, Kroger and British logistics firm Ocado struck a deal to build large full-service automated depots – some would serve markets where Kroger already operated stores and others, like Groveland, FL, would open up new markets for online ordering and same-day delivery.

What Sargent and his directors couldn’t do was put Humpty Dumpty (aka the Kroger-Albertsons merger attempt) back together again.

Fair or unfair, the failed effort cost Kroger more than $1 billion and eroded even more confidence from the chain’s associates (the legal fight between the two retailers is still ongoing) and from Wall Street.

If you were the director of scouting for an organization, Greg Foran would be a virtual lock as a number one overall draft pick. He began in the grocery business at age 17 (at Woolworth’s in Australia). After 33 years at Woolworth’s, Foran joined Walmart (International) in 2011. A year later he was named CEO of Walmart China, then led the “Behemoth’s” Asian business and in 2014 was named chief executive of Walmart U.S. He resigned in 2019.

The changes he made (along with recently retired CEO Doug McMillan) were significant. Unlike his predecessor, stodgy Bill Simon, Foran took a much more hands-on approach to retailing – visiting stores, engaging with associates while also possessing a unique ability to implement changes that the consumer would recognize and benefit from.

As Walmart began to shift to a more ecommerce driven approach early in Foran’s tenure, Foran, according to four of his former associates, was instrumental in helping leverage the retailer’s brick-and-mortar advantages into its emerging ecommerce initiatives.

If you’ve read my column over the years (this is year 48), you’ll know I’m a big fan of leaders whose work histories are dominated by operational experience. Neither McMullen nor his former two top executives CFO Gary Millerchip and former chief merchant Stuart Aitken had strong ties to the stores. When Millerchip left for Costco in 2024 and Aitken joined Circana last year, McMullen’s cabinet was pretty thin and heavily inbred.

Foran has a great opportunity. He’s already proven himself as a change agent. And while reshaping a company with more than 400,000 associates and 21 operating divisions might seem daunting, when he left Walmart nearly seven years ago, the Bentonville, AR-juggernaut posted annual U.S. sales of $331.7 billion and employed approximately 1.5 million domestic employees.

I expect changes to come quickly and often.

‘Round The Trade

There’s some encouraging news on the food affordability front. While the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed a 0.2 percent increase in food-at-home prices for January, that’s a whole lot better than the 2.1 percent gain in December which was the biggest rate of increase since October 2022. 

Last month, while five of the six measured food categories posted price increases, those gains were much more modest including dairy and related products (up 0.8 percent); cereal and bakery products (increased 1.2 percent); meats, poultry, fish and eggs (up 0.2 percent); and non-alcoholic beverages, and fruits and vegetables both saw price increases of 0.1 percent. The only group to post a declining trend was other food at home which decreased 0.3 percent in January.

RIP frozen Minute Maid orange juice. Sad, but true, the Coca-Cola division announced that in April all frozen juices will be discontinued. The big beverage firm said that “shifting consumer preferences” led to the decision. It’s not shocking after witnessing the growth of fresh refrigerated juice products over the last 25 years, but that black and orange cylinder was part of my childhood for many mornings. Minute Maid OJ concentrate was 80 when it passed away peacefully.

After a strong Q4, Ahold Delhaize (USA) reported some additional good news. At Stop & Shop, five UFCW locals in MA, CT and RI ratified a new four year contract affecting 28,000 store-level grocery workers. This is a much better outcome than in 2019 when approximately 30,000 UFCW workers struck the Quincy, MA division which created rippling damages in the organization. 

Also at ADUSA, The Giant Company has agreed to acquire two Bedford County, PA independent stores – Everett Foodliner and Saxton Market. Both stores are owned by Bob and Joe Appleby and the deal includes real estate and fuel business assets. “We are honored that the Appleby family has placed their trust in us and chose us to continue their legacy of serving families in Everett and Saxton,” said TGC president John Ruane.

It was a big month for store openings in the region as ribbon cuttings occurred at five locations. Those included two Wakefern debuts – Saker ShopRite’s 110,000 square foot replacement unit in Manahawkin (Ocean County), NJ and Inserra’s 18,000 square foot Fresh Grocer in Brooklyn, across from the Fulton Mall. This is the Inserra’s second Fresh Grocer and first overall store in New York City. Lidl also opened two new discount units – a 27,270 square footer in Totowa (Passaic County), NJ and its third in Manhattan (and 12th in the Big Apple) at 460 Third Avenue. That Kips Bay store is 20,700 square feet in size. 

As reported last month, Sprouts did officially open its first new York store in Centereach (Suffolk County) on January 30. It plans to open a second Empire State small format store this summer in tony Hartsdale (Westchester County), NY and recently gained approval to build its first New England store in Weymouth, MA.

It’s also been an active period for Whole Foods Market. On February 5, it cut the ribbon on a new 42,000 square foot natural/organics store in Cheshire (New Haven, County), CT. Additionally, the unit of Amazon will cut the ribbon on its long-awaited 7,888 square foot Daily Shop in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on February 25. A week later it will also open a 42,000 square foot conventional WFM in Holbrook, NY, its fourth Suffolk County store and eighth on Lungisland.

Good news for our friends at McCaffrey’s Market which announced it will open a new replacement store at the site of the soon-to-be-closed Weis Market in upscale Doylestown, PA. The 51,000 square foot supermarket will replace the current highly specialized 13,000 square foot Simply Fresh unit (located a little over a mile away when) the new unit opens early next year

Sadly, we have a couple of deaths to report over the past month. If you lived in New Jersey in the late 1970s and ‘80s, you probably are familiar with Floyd Vivino. “Uncle Floyd” was one of the pioneers of extremely low-budget late night absurdist TV which began its life on old UHF channel 68 (remember Ultra-High Frequency?) in Newark. Floyd’s show was pure schtick – combining sketch comedy, slapstick humor, bad joke-telling, puppeteering and musical acts (Vivino was a skilled piano player). 

Even though the show was raw and rag-tag, Vivino attracted a cult following over the years, attracting such celebrities as Jon Bon Jovi, Cyndi Lauper and The Ramones to appear on his show. Even the great David Bowie was a fan – penning the song “Slip Away” after watching Vivino live at the Bottom Line in Greenwich Village. And Floyd Vivino could write a song if needed, but singing parodies was more up his alley. Tunes such as “Deep in the Heart of Jersey” (sung to the tune of “Deep in the Heart of Texas): “Oh, the factory smoke will make you choke, Deep in the hart of Jersey. And the city rats run in packs, Deep in the heart of Jersey. But it’s my state, I think it’s great. Deep in the heart of Jersey.” Floyd Vivino,74, is survived by his two brothers – guitarist Jimmy and sax player Jerry, both great musicians in their own right.

Robert Duvall has also left us. One of the greatest American actors over the past 60 years, Duvall was 95 when he passed. In his career, which spanned 62 years (1960-2022), Duvall appeared in 145 roles, playing some of the most memorable characters in film and television history. In fact, Duvall’s acting strength came from his many years as a secondary player. So, when he was tapped to play the starring role his depth as an actor really shined. He could play crazed characters such as lieutenant colonel Tom Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979’s war classic “Apocalypse Now” (“I love the smell of napalm in the morning”); insightful characters such as Tom Hagen, Don Corleone’s (Marlon Brando’s) consigliere in Coppola’s “Godfather I” and “Godfather II” epics (1972 and 1974); or a sensitive, introspective soul Mac Sledge, the has-been country music singer in Hal Ashby’s excellent “Tender Mercies” (1983). 

However, my favorite Duvall role came in the four-part TV mini-series “Lonesome Dove” (1989) based on the fantastic novel from Larry McMurtry. Set in the 1870s, Duvall plays captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae, a famous retired Texas Ranger, who along with his former partner Woodrow F. McCall (Tommy Lee Jones), operates a livery stable in the small Texas town of Lonesome Dove. McCrae is a complicated character (something that Duvall excelled at playing) – philosopher, womanizer, humorist, adventurer and soul searcher. Duvall is simply sensational and unforgettable. 

And I have a personal Robert Duvall story that I’d like to share. As a 14-year-old freshman at Wantagh (NY) High School, my English teacher was Ed Russell, one of the best and most memorable educators during my time at Wantagh HS. A frustrated actor, Russell attended acting school in the mid-1950s with Duvall. Unannounced, at Russell’s request, Duvall spoke to our class about the importance of reading, proper writing and conversation. At the time (1965), Duvall was just beginning his career, having performed in about a dozen TV and film roles. While he was unknown to me and my classmates at the time, his command over our class and the passion he displayed remain firmly imprinted in my memory to this day.

Jeff Metzger is publisher emeritus of Food World and Food Trade News and founder of Taking Stock LLC, a grocery industry advisory and consulting firm.