The Kroger Co. announced the retirement of Robert Clark, senior vice president of supply chain, manufacturing and enterprise sourcing, after more than 35 years of service, effective Feb. 1, 2021. Clark will be succeeded by Gabriel Arreaga, who is joining The Kroger Co. as senior vice president of supply chain, starting Oct. 1, 2020.

"We thank Robert for his 35 years of dedicated service and leadership," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO. "He's been an instrumental leader at all levels of our organization and has built collaborative teams and developed business strategies that have advanced our operations and uplifted our associates and customers."

Clark began his career in the Fry's division as a bagger in 1985. He advanced to occupy several store, district and division leadership roles for Fry's, including being named vice president of merchandising in 2002. Clark relocated in 2010 to the Columbus division to serve as vice president of operations and then he moved to the Fred Meyer division in 2011 to serve as vice president of merchandising. He relocated to Kroger's corporate headquarters in Cincinnati in 2013 to take on the role of group vice president of non-perishables. He was promoted to senior vice president of merchandising in 2016 and to his current position in 2019.

In his retirement, Clark and his wife, Kelli, plan to return to Arizona to spend more time with their children and grandchildren.

As senior vice president of supply chain, Arreaga will be responsible for the company's industry-leading supply chain organization, which includes logistics, inventory and replenishment.

"Gabriel's proven history of outstanding leadership and management of complex supply chain and logistics functions will accelerate our ability to provide a seamless shopping experience for our customers," continued McMullen. "We welcome Gabriel and his 22 years of leadership experience in the industry and look forward to adding his fresh perspective and insights to our growing operations."

Arreaga joins Kroger with deep supply chain leadership experience. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of supply chain for Mondelez International Inc. There, he led a team of more than 14,000 employees within a network of 41 internal and external factories, 49 fulfillment centers, direct-to-store branches, logistics and product development. He also served as global vice president of operations for Stanley Black and Decker and held numerous leadership roles at Unilever, including vice president of food and beverage operations.

Arreaga holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Del Valle University and an MBA from INCAE, a top global MBA program led by Harvard University's curriculum and located in Central America. He's also completed advanced management programs at Harvard University and served as a research assistant for MIT faculty on Corporate Strategy, among other areas.