CINCINNATI — Fred Morganthall, president of Harris Teeter Supermarkets, has been named senior vice-president of retail divisions for the Kroger Co. Rod Antolock, executive vice-president of Harris Teeter, will become president of Harris Teeter.
With more than 37 years of grocery industry experience, Mr. Morganthall joined Harris Teeter in 1986 and has filled a number of leadership roles overseeing merchandising, distribution and operations before becoming president of the retail chain in 1997. He has been an active leader in industry organizations, such as the Food Marketing Institute.
“Fred is an exceptional leader who is respected throughout the industry,” said Mike Ellis, president and chief operating officer of Kroger. “We continue to learn a lot from Fred about building even stronger connections with our customers. We are delighted that he is taking on this broader role at Kroger.”
With 37 years of retail experience, Mr. Antolock has held a number of leadership roles at Albertsons and Harris Teeter, including senior vice-president of operations and senior vice-president of operations and merchandising. Since 2012, he has served in his current role with responsibilities over merchandising, operations, marketing, human resources, loss prevention, store development, quality assurance and distribution, and manufacturing.
“Rod’s leadership has contributed to Harris Teeter’s success for more than 15 years,” Mr. Ellis said. “He has been instrumental in developing Harris Teeter’s exceptional customer service and product quality. We look forward to his continued leadership in his new role.”
With nearly 400,000 associates and 2,625 supermarkets and multi-department stores, Kroger operates stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia under two dozen local banner names, including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Harris Teeter, Jay C, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith’s. The company also has 782 convenience stores, 326 fine jewelry stores, 1,330 supermarket fuel centers and 37 food processing plants in the United States.
Kroger acquired Harris Teeter Supermarkets at the beginning of 2014 in a transaction valued at $49.38 per outstanding share, or about $2.5 billion. Harris Teeter, with headquarters in Matthews, N.C., employs approximately 28,000 associates and has stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Delaware, Florida and the District of Columbia.
