Stock price 8/30/10

Todays stock price closed at $19.92, which is down $.41.

Strategic plan, mission, values

Strategic plan
The balance between margin and sales growth is the foundation of Kroger’s strategic plan. During the past several years, Kroger has been transitioning its business model to meet the changing needs and expectations of our customers in a competitive and consolidating industry. This strategic plan requires a balance among several elements – including sales, earnings, and capital investment – and is driven by strong, sustainable identical sales growth. Our identical sales growth is the result of merchandising and operating initiatives that improve the shopping experience and build customer loyalty. These initiatives are funded by operating cost reductions and productivity improvements. Kroger’s associates are focused on improving our customers’ shopping experiences in three major areas: service, selection, and value. Our strategic plan aligns everything we do with meeting the needs and expectations of our customers. Simply put, our business is focused on putting the Customer first. We are confident that our “Customer 1st” business strategy will enable us to generate positive results as we face continued challenges in the rapidly changing retail grocery industry.
http://www.thekrogerco.com/finance/documents/SectionV-5.pdf

Mission
Our mission is to be a leader in the distribution and merchandising of food, pharmacy, health and personal care items, seasonal merchandise, and related products and services.
http://www.thekrogerco.com/corpnews/corpnewsinfo.htm

Values
-Honesty : Doing the right things, telling the truth.
-Integrity : Living our values in all we do, unified approach to how we do business and treat each other.
-Respect for Others : Valuing opinions, property and perspectives of others.
-Diversity : Reflecting a workplace that includes a variety of people from different backgrounds and cultures, diversity of opinions and thoughts.
-Safety : Watching out for others, being secure and safe in your workplace.
-Inclusion : Your voice matters, working together works, encouraging everyone’s involvement, being the best person you can be.
http://www.thekrogerco.com/corpnews/corpnewsinfo_values.htm

Management Team

The Kroger Company was founded in 1883 by Barney Kroger and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.  Total full time employment is approximately 334,000 employees.  David B. Dillon has been the Chief Executive Officer of Kroger Company since June 26, 2003. Mr. Dillon served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of The Kroger Company from June 26, 2000 to June 26, 2003.  Mr Dillion also serves as the chairman of the Kroger Company Board of Directors.  The Board is comprised of 14 individuals (2 from Kroger and 12 from outside companies).  W. Rodney McMullen, the other Kroger employee on the Board, currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer.  J. Michael Schlotman serves as the Chief Financial Officer.  Of the 14 Board members, two of the members are female.  The Kroger Company Board does include independent directors.  The following is a statement from the Board's Guidelines on Issues of Corporate Governance and discusses the composition of the Board.  The substantial majority of directors will be independent of the Company's management.  An independent director is one who has never held a position as officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, has no significant business or personal interest connected with the Company, and who meets the definition of “independent” under the NYSE listing standards. A retired officer of the Company or one of its subsidiaries who continues to serve as a director will be considered an outside director but not an independent director. Ownership of at least that number of shares required under the stock ownership policy described in paragraph 25 of these Guidelines is required and will not impair the independent status of a director.
Another excerpt taken from the Guidelines:  The Kroger Co. Board of Directors serves the Company's shareholders and other constituencies by its direction of corporate policy; its election of the chief executive and other officers; and its continuing oversight of management.

Here is the link to the entire Guidelines on Issues of Corporate Governance.  From reading these guidelines it appears that the Board is very involved with its oversight of Kroger management.
http://www.thekrogerco.com/documents/GuidelinesIssues.pdf

Choosing Kroger

The reason I chose Kroger is I thought it would be interesting to learn about the operations of one of the largest grocers in the United States.  Plus since a large portion of my budget is spent at Kroger I wanted to study a company that I actually buy products from.  Kroger is one of the nation's largest grocery retailers, with fiscal 2009 sales of $76.7 billion. The Kroger Company has operations in many states with store formats that include grocery, multi-department stores, convenience stores, jewelry stores, and financial services.  I had no idea that Kroger's operations included jewelry until I started researching the company.  Turns out that Kroger operates 375 fine jewelry stores in 35 states.

Here are some more quick facts about The Kroger Company:
•Kroger operates 2,470 grocery retail stores in 31 states under nearly two dozen banners.
•Kroger operates 779 convenience stores under five banners in 18 states.
•Kroger is the only major U.S. supermarket company to operate an economical three-tier distribution system.
•Kroger operates 40 food processing or manufacturing facilities producing high quality private-label products that provide value for customers and enhanced margins for Kroger.
•Kroger operates 909 supermarket fuel centers.
•Kroger's operates 1,963 pharmacies.