Valerie Jabbar has been named senior vice president of retail divisions at The Kroger Co., succeeding Steve McKinney, who is retiring after more than 40 years at the company. Plans call for Jabbar, currently group vice president of center store merchandising, to take over from McKinney on Aug. 7, 2021. In her new role, Jabbar will oversee several Kroger Co. retail divisions. Jabbar has served as group VP of center store merchandising since 2019. McKinney (left) has spent over four decades at Kroger. McKinney also served as VP of operations for the Southwest division and VP of operations for Ralphs. He was appointed president of Fry’s in 2013 before being promoted to his current role as senior VP of retail divisions in 2018.