CINCINNATI — David Dillon, who has been chief executive officer of the Kroger Co. here since 2003, is only the 10th chief executive officer of Kroger in its 125-year history.
The first was Bernard H. Kroger, who headed the company from its inception in 1883 until his retirement in 1928 (see story, Page 22).
The top-level executives who followed him:
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William H. Albers, 1928-1930, who worked with Barney Kroger and succeeded him. Albers left Kroger after only two years to start his own chain of stores.
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Albert H. Morrill, 1930-1942, who joined the company as general counsel. During his term as CEO, he decentralized the company by creating 23 divisions and gave division managers greater autonomy in operations, purchasing and merchandising. He also established in-house facilities to monitor product quality.
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Charles M. Robertson, 1942-1946, who initially served as vice president and treasurer. He put the chain's expansion plans on hold during World War II and channeled some of the company's food production toward the military by creating high-quality rations for troops.
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Joseph B. Hall, 1946-1964, who was originally hired in 1931 as real estate manager before moving into merchandising. He shortened the company's name — The Kroger Grocery & Baking Co. — to The Kroger Co. and led the company to its first $1 billion year in 1952. Among other accomplishments during his tenure: He merged 45 private labels into a single Kroger brand with a distinctive blue-and-white logo and oversaw expansion into Texas, Minnesota and California.
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Jacob E. Davis, 1964-1970, a former congressman and judge who joined Kroger as vice president in 1944. During his years as CEO, he focused on revitalizing and modernizing Kroger's manufacturing plants, replacing older facilities with new ones and consolidating smaller plants into larger regional operations.
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James P. Herring, 1970-1978, who joined the company in 1960 after selling his East Coast drug stores to Kroger as the basis for Kroger's new drug store division. Given his nonfood background, Herring was instrumental in moving Kroger into the food-and-drug combo-store format.
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Lyle Everingham, 1978-1990, who joined Kroger as a clerk in 1946. During his years as CEO, he led the company in reorganizing its 24 division offices into 13 marketing areas for closer contact with the main office and was at the helm for the 1983 acquisition of Dillon Cos. He also led Kroger to utilize extensive consumer research to focus on meeting customer needs first, rather than on what suited Kroger best.
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Joseph A. Pichler, 1990-2003, who became a Kroger executive through the 1983 merger with Dillon. Under his leadership, Kroger bought Fred Meyer Inc. in 1999, which included Ralphs in Southern California, QFC in Washington and Smith's Food & Drug in the Southwest. He also steered Kroger away from a hostile takeover in 1988.
