The Kroger Co. announced the retirement of Joe Grieshaber, senior vice president and chief merchant, after more than 37 years of distinguished service, effective August 15. Grieshaber will be succeeded by Stuart W. Aitken, currently senior vice president of alternative business and CEO of 84.51°, Kroger's data analytics subsidiary. Yael Cosset, senior vice president and chief information officer, will assume responsibility for alternative business and 84.51°. Grieshaber started his career with Kroger in 1983 as a store management trainee in Nashville, Tenn. Since then, he has served in numerous roles, including as a meat merchandiser and district manager for the Michigan division. Later in his career, Grieshaber was promoted to vice president of merchandising of the Columbus division then assumed the role of corporate group vice president of perishables merchandising and procurement. He was named president of the Dillons division in 2010 and served as president of both the Columbus and Fred Meyer divisions before being promoted to his current role in 2019. Aitken, currently senior vice president of alternative business and CEO of 84.51°, will succeed Grieshaber, effective August 1. As chief merchant and marketing officer, Aitken will be responsible for sales, pricing, planning, promotions, execution, analytics, ecommerce and digital merchandising, and their Brands. He will also retain responsibility for marketing. Prior to Kroger, he acquired many years of marketing, academic and technical experience across a variety of industries and held various leadership roles with other companies, including Michael's Stores, Safeway Inc. and dunnhumby USA, where he served as CEO from 2009 to 2015.