Kroger Co.

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Kroger sought to acquire rival Albertsons for $24.6 billion, but federal and state challenges blocked the deal.

© Scott Habermann/stock.adobe.com

Kroger is an American grocery and retail company. In the early 21st century, it ranked among the world’s largest retailers and was the largest supermarket chain in the United States. The company is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Kroger Co. originated as the Great Western Tea Company, founded by Bernard H. (“Barney”) Kroger and B.A. Branagan in Cincinnati in 1883.

Kroger, a former coffee-and-tea salesman, soon bought out Branagan’s interest, and by 1885 he had a chain of four groceries. In 1901, he established a bakery, allowing him to become his own supplier and driving down costs. The company later came to own many other food-processing facilities.

The chain had grown to 40 stores by 1902, when it was incorporated as Kroger Grocery and Baking Co. Kroger bought a meat company in 1904 and set up its first in-store meat departments, bringing customers another step closer to one-stop food shopping.

By 1920, the company had begun a process of rapid expansion beyond the Cincinnati area. Kroger sold his shares and retired from the business in 1928. The following year, the company was operating 5,575 stores—more than ever before or since. By the 1930s, street-corner grocery stores were being replaced by supermarkets, which were larger in size but fewer in number. The company assumed its present name in 1946.

In 1979, Kroger became the second largest supermarket chain in the United States. The company preserved its independence in 1988 by fending off a leveraged buyout bid by the Kohlberg Kravis Roberts investment firm. Meanwhile, the process of expansion continued.

Some chains continued to operate under their former names after becoming Kroger units; they included Dillons, Food-4-Less, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Harris Teeter, Jay-C, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs, Roundy’s, and Smith’s. Kroger’s acquisition of the Fred Meyer chain, completed in 1999, made it the nation’s largest retail grocer.

The Fred Meyer superstores sold jewelry and many other types of general merchandise in addition to grocery items. Even the standard Kroger stores typically included a pharmacy, and some also featured gas stations.

In the 2010s and early 2020s, Kroger faced intensifying competition from mass merchants and discount grocers, particularly Walmart, Costco, and fast-growing chains such as Aldi.

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Home delivery has long been part of Kroger’s business.

© Kroger

Under Chief Executive Officer Rodney McMullen, who led the company from 2014 to 2025, Kroger expanded its private label (also called store brand) products. The company also spent heavily on data analytics and online grocery services, including pickup and delivery, and sought to strengthen its supply chain and logistics network.

In 2022, Kroger agreed to acquire rival Albertsons Companies Inc. in a deal valued at roughly $20 billion, which would have combined the nation’s two largest traditional supermarket operators.

The merger drew opposition from the Federal Trade Commission and several state attorneys general, who argued that it would reduce competition and raise grocery prices. In December 2024, a federal judge blocked the transaction, effectively ending the merger after a lengthy legal battle.

In March 2025, McMullen resigned following a board investigation into personal conduct that the company said violated its ethics policies but was unrelated to Kroger’s financial performance. Ronald Sargent, the company’s lead independent director and former Staples CEO, was named interim CEO while Kroger conducted a national search for a permanent successor.

In February 2026, Kroger named Greg Foran, a former Walmart executive and chief executive of Air New Zealand, as its new CEO. During his tenure at Walmart’s U.S. business, Foran was credited with improving store operations, including cleaner stores, better-stocked shelves, and an expanded selection of fresh produce.

His appointment followed a period of cost-cutting and store closures after the failed Albertsons merger. Sargent remained chair of the board of directors to oversee the leadership transition.