Kroger Names New Fred Meyer President

The Kroger Co. (Cincinnati) has announced that Darrell Webb will become president of its Fred Meyer Stores division (Portland, Ore.), replacing Sam Duncan, who left last month to become president and ceo of ShopKo Stores Inc. (Green Bay, Wis.).

Webb, a 22-year veteran with Fred Meyer and Kroger, had been president of Quality Food Centers Inc. (Bellevue, Wash.), a division of Kroger that operates 86 stores in Washington and Oregon, since 1999.

Kroger has not yet named Webb's replacement at QFC, but it did make a series of other executive appointments:

Robert Zincke, a 38-year Kroger veteran, was named senior vp, with responsibility for several retail divisions. For the past 12 years, Zincke has been president of Kroger's Houston-based Southwest division, which operates 212 stores in Texas and Louisiana.

William Breetz Jr. succeeds Zincke as president of Kroger's Southwest division. He has been executive vp of that division for two years, with responsibility for operations.

Michael Donnelly has been promoted to senior vp, responsible drug and general merchandising and procurement. Donnelly is a former president of Fry's, a division of Kroger based in Phoenix.