Kroger names new mid-Atlantic president

Kroger has named Kate Mora president of its mid-Atlantic division, replacing Lori Raya, who’d held the role since 2021 and is retiring, according to a Tuesday news announcement by the grocery store chain, which has nearly half a million employees across 2,800 stores in 35 states, including 68 stores in Virginia. 

Mora will work in Glen Allen, where Kroger’s mid-Atlantic division has been based since 2021, when the company relocated its regional headquarters from Roanoke. 

Mora joined Kroger in 2022 as vice president on special assignment supporting End-to-End Fresh, an initiative to designed to get the freshest food to shoppers. She went on to serve as vice president for merchandising in the company’s Michigan division. 

Before coming to Kroger, Mora worked for more than 26 years at Walmart, leaving in 2021 as a vice president managing a section of the mid-Atlantic region, according to her LinkedIn page. 

Mora holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and sits on the board of Gleaners Community Food Bank in Detroit. 

“With more than 25 years of retail management and leadership experience, she is a proven leader and strategic thinker, with a history of operational excellence,” Valerie Jabbar, senior vice president of retail divisions for Kroger, said in a statement. 

The company’s mid-Atlantic division operates more than 100 stores in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio staffed by about 18,000 associates. In March, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 and Kroger officials reached a contract agreement that narrowly averted a strike in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. 

In 2022, Kroger and Albertsons Companies announced plans for a $24.6 billion merger agreement set to be completed in 2024. However, in February the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit aiming to stop the merger, alleging that it would reduce competition and lead to higher grocery prices. Nine attorneys general joined the complaint. The trial is scheduled to begin at the end of this month in Oregon. 

Separately, the attorney general of Washington state and the attorney general of Colorado have both filed state lawsuits to block the merger. The UFCW International Union, which represents more than 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers, opposes the merger.