<p>During an investor conference held on Wednesday, Kroger announced that it is moving forward with its strategy to identify markets it can fill with additional stores and improve current assets. The following Kroger executives addressed investors during the conference: David Dillon, Kroger chairman and CEO, Rodney McMullen, president and COO, Michael Schlotman, senior vice president and CFO, Michael Donnelly, senior vice president of merchandising, Robert Clark, group vice president, non-perishables merchandising and procurement, and Michael Ellis, senior vice president.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Kroger executives said that the acquisition of Matthews, N.C.-based Harris Teeter Supermarkets has increased opportunities to fill in markets because of the number of new territories where that chain operates, according to an investors webcast. The company is proud of its negotiations with Harris Teeter and believes the Harris Teeter teams have done a great job hitting Kroger’s objectives without diverting from their own mission.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> The fill-in strategy is to provide an 8 – 11% growth rate, commented Mike Ellis, Kroger Senior Vice President. This will improve market share and profitability by leveraging assets the company currently has to ultimately strengthen the market. “It’s well underway in several markets today and we’ve added even more to our capital plans for the future to continue the fill-in strategy,” said Mike Ellis. He added that the company is moving well ahead of its plans.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Nevertheless, Michael Schlotman explained that although the company is ahead of schedule, this does not necessarily mean that new stores are opening at a faster pace in those market yet, nor does it signal that any additional acquisitions are being considered.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow Kroger’s continuing fill-in strategy.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://ir.kroger.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=106409&p=irol-irhome" target="_new"> Kroger </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
