Retail/Wholesale: LORI RAYA

Raya elected not to spend her first year as Kroger Co.’s mid-Atlantic division president tucked away in her office, hidden from the public eye. In May, she penned an editorial, published in newspapers around Virginia, advocating for the elimination of the state’s grocery tax, a pet initiative of Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“Even without inflation, it seems unnecessary,” she wrote. “With inflation, it seems harshly punitive.”

Raya turned up in print again in August 2021 after unionized Kroger employees in Richmond and Hampton Roads ratified a new agreement with the company. “Associates will receive significant pay increases, affordable and comprehensive health care, and continued investment in their pension fund,” Raya said in a statement.

Coming to Kroger with more than 30 years of experience in the retail food industry, Raya previously worked as chief merchandising and marketing officer for SpartanNash, a food distributor and grocery store chain. She started her grocery career in the late 1980s working as an associate at Safeway before quickly moving up to management. By 2012, Raya was named the first female division president of the supermarket chain Vons, overseeing its largest market, Southern California.