Thirty-one-year veteran’s departure follows Foran’s leadership reset across Kroger’s store, e-commerce and human-resources operations.
Kroger Health President Colleen Lindholz has announced her retirement after 31 years with The Kroger Co., extending a broad leadership transition under CEO Greg Foran that has brought new executives into several of the retailer’s most important operating roles.
Lindholz oversees Kroger’s pharmacy, clinical and nutrition operations, as well as health-related digital services and telehealth platforms. Kroger Health operates more than 2,200 pharmacies and 220 clinics across 35 states and serves more than 17 million customers annually.
“It’s been the privilege of a lifetime to lead the Kroger Health team,” Lindholz wrote in announcing her retirement on LinkedIn.
She joined Kroger in 1995 as a pharmacist in the Cincinnati/Dayton division and subsequently held positions in pharmacy operations, recruiting, merchandising and marketing. Lindholz was promoted to director of pharmacy sales and marketing in 2013 and became president and CEO of The Little Clinic in 2015.
In 2017, she became the first president of the newly established Kroger Health organization, bringing the retailer’s pharmacy, clinic and nutrition operations under a more unified structure. She also helped develop Kroger’s Food as Medicine strategy and founded Nourishing Change, an industry initiative bringing together leaders from grocery, pharmacy, health care, technology and public policy.
Lindholz did not disclose an effective retirement date, and a successor was not identified in her announcement. Her departure comes as Foran continues to reshape Kroger’s senior leadership around store execution, digital growth and workforce performance.
The Foran Leadership Reset So Far
Mark Ibbotson joined Kroger Sept. 14 as executive vice president and chief store operations officer. The former Walmart and Asda executive was recruited to simplify store operations, strengthen frontline execution and better connect Kroger’s physical and digital capabilities.
Kroger also named Nate Faust executive vice president and chief e-commerce officer, effective Sept. 1. Faust, a co-founder of Jet.com and former Walmart U.S. e-commerce supply-chain executive, is responsible for accelerating Kroger’s digital business and improving fulfillment speed, order accuracy and the overall online customer experience.
Those appointments followed the hiring of former McDonald’s executive Emilee De Martino as executive vice president and chief people officer. De Martino succeeded Tim Massa, who retired Sept. 18 after leading Kroger’s human-resources organization.
The changes give Foran new leaders overseeing stores, e-commerce and Kroger’s workforce. Lindholz’s retirement now adds health and pharmacy—an operation reaching millions of patients and important to the food-as-medicine movement—to the list of businesses undergoing leadership change.