Kroger Names New Division Presidents
The Kroger Co. has made executive moves, in two divisions with Dana Zurcher, currently Dallas division president, being named president of the Columbus division. Tom Schwilke will succeed her as president of the Dallas division.
Zurcher succeeds Dan De La Rosa, who was recently named president of the King Soopers division. She will oversee 118 stores and more than 21,000 associates throughout central and northwest Ohio, as well as southeast Michigan and the Ohio River Valley.
Zurcher joined Kroger in 1985 as a member of store management in Indianapolis. In 2002, she moved to Phoenix as a district manager in the Fry's division. In 2008, she was promoted to director of operations for the Ralphs division. She was promoted to VP of operations for the Mid-South division in 2011, and was later named to the same role in 2013 for the Southwest division. In 2015, she became the first president of the Dallas division, her most recent role, when the Southwest division was divided into Dallas and Houston.
“Dana has a long history of success throughout the Kroger family of companies, and we know she’ll continue to serve our customers exceptionally well as the leader of our Columbus division,” said Mike Donnelly, Kroger’s EVP and COO. “Her diverse operations and merchandising background will help us deliver our vision to serve America through food inspiration and uplift.”
As Dallas’ new president, Schwilke will oversee 110 stores across Dallas/Fort Worth, northwest Louisiana and east Texas. He joins Kroger with 35 years in merchandising and retail leadership capacities. Most recently, he was the president and general manager of the NorCal division of Pleasanton, Calif.-based Albertsons division Safeway Inc., in which capacity he oversaw 283 stores and 35,000 associates.
Prior to that role, he held a number of national leadership positions with the company, including president and GM of perishables and group VP of produce and floral. The move to Dallas marks a return to Texas for Schwilke, who, from 2008 to 2010, was the president and GM of Safeway Inc.’s Texas division. In that role, he was responsible for overall operations of 111 Tom Thumb and Randalls stores in Dallas, Houston and Austin.
“We are pleased to welcome Tom to Kroger,” said Donnelly. “He is well respected throughout the retail industry, and we look forward to his proven leadership driving continued growth in our Dallas division.”
Cincinnati-based Kroger is No. 2 in Progressive Grocer’s 2018 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.
