Richard Shea

Rich is a seasoned retail executive with more than 40 years of experience in merchandising, procurement, and marketing, including 34 years with The Kroger Co. in roles across store operations, division management, and corporate. During his last 18 years with Kroger, Rich had corporate responsibility for Health and Beauty Care and Non-Food Merchandising (HBC/NF).

Rich is recognized in the industry as a collaborative leader whose expertise in driving retail strategy and execution; passion for partnering with suppliers to create mutual wins for the retailer, supplier, and customer; and unyielding focus on on-the-ground engagement with store associates and managers (including regular store tours) delivered strong results.

During his tenure as Senior Director of HBC/NF Merchandising, the company experienced unprecedented success, including 49 straight quarters of positive ID store sales growth and continuous market share gains. He played a key role in numerous successful initiatives, including Kroger’s Personal Needs Reinvention (KPNR) of which there were three iterations during his tenure, Kroger’s Baby Aisle Reinvention (KPNR), HBC/NF Pricing Strategies, Store Layouts, Collaborative Category Optimization (CCO), and the application of Customer Data and Insights into executable and successful strategies and tactics.