Albert H. Morrill (1930 – 1942) CEO

            Morrill’s main task at the Kroger Company was to decentralize its operation and take Kroger in a new direction. Morrill wanted to modernize the company and expand the growth as much as possible.

            Morrill, a Cincinnati native, served as the general counsel for Kroger until he became president of the company in 1930.

            Morrill’s first order of business was to create regional branches in the company to improve the management structure. Morrill created 23 branches within the company, each branch being run a manager responsible for all the stores with in his or her respective branch. So, instead of one person ordering all the merchandise and equipment for every Kroger store, each manager had the flexibility to run the stores more independently, purchasing products and planning merchandising based on individual store needs.

            Morrill also changed the way Kroger stores bought produce. Instead of purchasing it through their regular produce growers, Morrill sent out expert buyers to inspect crops and find the finest quality produce America had to offer. While other stores simply ordered a product without first seeing what they were going to receive, Kroger sent out experts to find the food they wanted to purchase, inspect the produce and made sure that produce made it onto the shelves at the Kroger stores.

            The Kroger Food Foundation was the next innovation in line for Kroger. Kroger began sending quality control specialists and home economists to operate cooking schools across America. Nearly 300,000 people attended the seminars on how to cook better family meals with food that could be purchased at Kroger. Kroger also began sending out samples of Kroger brand food to different homemakers, who tested the products against competing brands, and gave Kroger information about how to make their products better than their competitors.