CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced Dana Zurcher, currently Dallasdivision president, has been named president of the Columbus division. She will be succeeded by Tom Schwilke, who joins Kroger with more than 35 years of retail leadership experience.
Dana Zurcher Named President of the Columbus Division
Dana Zurcher, currently president of the Dallas division, has been named president of the Columbus division, effective May 1. She succeeds Dan De La Rosa, who was recently named president of the King Soopers division. Ms. Zurcher will oversee 118 stores and more than 21,000 associates throughout central and northwest Ohio, as well as southeast Michigan and the Ohio River Valley.
“Dana has a long history of success throughout the Kroger Family of Companies, and we know she’ll continue to serve our customers exceptionally well as the leader of our Columbus division,” said Mike Donnelly, Kroger’s executive vice president and COO. “Her diverse operations and merchandising background will help us deliver our vision to serve America through food inspiration and uplift.”
Ms. Zurcher began her career with Kroger in 1985 in store management in Indianapolis. She served in a number of roles while in the Central division, including store and district management and merchandising. In 2002, she moved to Phoenix as a district manager in the Fry’s division. In 2008, she was promoted to director of operations for the Ralphs division. She was promoted to vice president of operations for the Mid-South division in 2011 and was later named to the same role in 2013 for the Southwest division. In 2015, she was named the first president of the Dallas division, her current role, when the Southwest division was divided into Dallas and Houston.
Ms. Zurcher has a bachelor’s in Marketing from Ball State University. She is the executive leader of Kroger’s Women’s EDGE associate resource group, which focuses on improving leadership opportunities for Kroger associates. Additionally, she resides on the boards of the Western Association of Food Chains and the North Texas Food Bank.
Tom Schwilke Named President of the Dallas Division
Tom Schwilke has been named president of the Dallas division, effective May 1. He succeeds Dana Zurcher, who has been named president of the Columbus division. The Dallas division comprises 110 stores across Dallas/Fort Worth, Northwest Louisiana and East Texas.
“We are pleased to welcome Tom to Kroger,” said Mr. Donnelly. “He is well respected throughout the retail industry, and we look forward to his proven leadership driving continued growth in our Dallas division.”
Mr. Schwilke comes to Kroger with 35 years of merchandising and retail leadership experience. Most recently, he was the president and general manager of the NorCal division of Safeway Inc., where he oversaw 283 stores and 35,000 associates. Prior to that role, he held a number of national leadership positions with the company, including president and general manager of perishables and group vice president of produce and floral.
He returns to Texas, where from 2008 to 2010 he was the president and general manager of Safeway Inc.’s Texas division. He was responsible for overall operations of 111 Tom Thumb and Randalls stores in Dallas, Houston and Austin.
Mr. Schwilke has a bachelor’s in Business Administration from Washington State University.
To download headshots of Ms. Zurcher and Mr. Schwilke, visit here.
About Kroger
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit™. We are nearly half a million associates who serve over nine million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
