Kroger hired Mark Ibbotson as executive VP and chief store operations officer, effective September 14. Ibbotson joined Walmart’s former UK subsidiary Asda in 2004 and rose to COO, then moved to Walmart U.S. in 2015 and eventually ran central operations and realty, a job that covered real estate, asset protection, store operations, and the launch of Walmart’s grocery e-commerce arm. He left Walmart in 2020 and has advised retail and technology companies since, including four years as a senior adviser at McKinsey. That makes two Walmart veterans Kroger has brought into its C-suite since August, following Jet.com co-founder Nate Faust as chief e-commerce officer.
