Kroger's new CEO calls out his own stores
Kroger has a massive scale, but it has squandered many of the inherent advantages that gives the chain.
"Kroger has enormous reach and powerful economies of scale. The problem is that, for many years, it has failed to capitalize on these things. The company hasn't been aggressive enough, nor has it been sufficiently progressive," GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders told RetailWire.
New CEO Greg Foran has not been shy when it comes to admitting that his company needs to make changes.
"Our execution in stores and online needs more consistency. When we operate well, we perform well. We attract households, grow sales and deliver strong earnings. But when execution slips, we fall short of our potential," he said during the chain's first-quarter earnings call.
Foran made it clear that the situation wasn't acceptable.
"And today, the gap between our best stores and the rest of the fleet needs to improve. And closing it is one of our biggest near-term opportunities," he added.
Kroger's CEO visits stores
Once he took the job running Kroger, Foran made it a priority to visit stores.
"Over the last sort of about 15, 16 weeks, I've probably now gotten to well over 100 of our stores and many of our competitors. I would say that as a rough rule of thumb, I would say that 2 out of 5, I would find in very good condition. Another 2 out of 5 that are in moderate condition, and there's generally 1 out of 5 where we could improve the performance," he said.
The CEO wants all of his chain's stores to deliver top performance.
"So, we just don't focus on that 20%, we look at actually the other 2 out of 5, where we can improve. The way you fix that is by basically getting out into the business. You spend time with the presidents in each division. You spend time with the vice presidents, you spend time with the district managers, you walk stores," he added.
More Kroger:
- Kroger stock slide reveals bigger grocery problem
- 7-Eleven gas deal beats Costco, Kroger, and Sam's Club
- Kroger CEO spots troubling new grocery trend
Foran thinks that fixing those stores is low-hanging fruit when it comes to reversing the fortunes of the company.
"It's amazing how quickly you can get it turned around and the impact it has on sales. I was in a store the other weekend. It wasn't in great shape. It had been running negative comp sales. And in the space of basically some hard work over the day by the team, they turned it into some reasonably healthy positive comps," he said. "So it makes a difference when you run a good store."
Kroger has some advantages
RTMNexus CEO Dominick Miserandino thinks Foran has accurately identified the chain's problems and can leverage its advantages.
"There is a reason to be incredibly hopeful about Kroger's future under Foran. Unlike Costco or Walmart, Kroger already owns the best neighborhood real estate in the country," he told TheStreet.
Miserandino thinks that the new CEO can build on that geographic advantage.
"Foran's expertise is taking that local advantage and ramping it up. If he can simplify the shopping experience and leverage Kroger's massive digital data, they can offer something the big giants can't - personalized value right at your local corner store," he added.
Across analysts and executives, a split view of Kroger is emerging.
Some see a company struggling with pricing pressure, inconsistent store execution, and growing competition from Walmart and other rivals. Others argue the chain still holds a powerful advantage in its dense neighborhood footprint and customer data, giving it tools its rivals don't easily match.
The outcome now depends on whether new leadership can turn those structural strengths into consistent in-store and digital performance.
Kroger has a pricing problem
Kroger sits far behind many of its rival when it comes to pricing, according to a Consumer Reports study.
The study, which used Walmart as its baseline, found that Kroger's prices on the cart full of basic items purchased at all the chains came in at 14.8% higher than Walmart's. Target was 5.9% higher, while Costco customers saved 21.4% on the same basket.
Foran has acknowledged the pricing problem.
"We have opportunities to sharpen our pricing and make value simpler for customers. Over time, our promotions have gotten too complicated and our price position has not kept pace where it needed to," he said.
That does not mean price matching, or being the cheapest option.
"Let me be clear on what this means. We do not need to be the lowest-priced retailer. We need to be more competitive, more consistent and easier for customers to understand. When a customer is deciding where to shop, we want more of them choosing Kroger more often because the value is clear, the experience is great and the trust is there," he said.
Kroger's challenge is not awareness of its pricing gap, but convincing customers it can deliver strong value without being the lowest-priced option.
Kroger lost its way
Foran took over Kroger from Rodney McMullen, who led the company for 11 years and presided over its failed merger attempt with Albertsons.
"The golden age of Kroger was before Rodney took over," Scott Mushkin, CEO of R5 Capital told Grocery Dive, referring to Kroger's approach to the grocery industry under David Dillon, McMullen's immediate predecessor as Kroger's CEO. "If you just look at the business … I would say they're kind of bumping along, kind of hanging on a little bit rather than thriving."
The chain has also struggled with its value proposition, relying on promotions while Walmart has an everyday low-pricing model, Karen Short, managing director and head of consumer and retail research for Melius Research, told Grocery Dive.
"They've gotten themselves completely out of whack on pricing relative to their competitors," Short said. "And I don't know how you dig yourself out of all of that, because Walmart is increasingly giving you a reason to not go to Kroger."
That's a criticism Foran agrees with.
"We have opportunities to strengthen our price position and make it simpler. Customers are being more deliberate with their spending and at times, shopping us selectively. We're getting too many promotional trips and not enough of the full basket," he said.
Kroger has solvable problems
Jeff Hall, president of CX Group, agrees with Foran's view of Kroger.
"Kroger's issues didn't appear overnight, and they won't be fixed overnight either," he wrote on RetailWire. "For a company of Kroger's scale, sustained improvement comes from getting hundreds of small things right every day across thousands of stores."
He sees the grocery chain as having solvable issues.
"Customers rarely think about organizational structure, executive changes, or strategic plans. They notice whether shelves are stocked, associates are available, checkout is efficient, and the overall experience feels worth their time and money," he added.
Morgan Stanley analysts believe that Foran also needs to focus on digital and delivery.
"The grocery wars are intensifying with e-commerce a central battleground, price investments driving heightened competition, and few industry drivers that can help relieve the pressure buildup," its analysts said earlier this month, Investopedia reported.
UBS analysts see the same issues with the company's digital and delivery business and its reliance on Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber.
"Not having full control of the interaction point with the consumer could create risk in the future, especially as changes like agentic commerce continue to take shape," UBS shared.
Related: Walmart, Target, and Costco answer Prime Day challenge
The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 1:17 PM.