CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. announced last month that Jay Cummins, president of its Smith’s division, was retiring from the company after 44 years.

No replacement was named.

Cummins began his career with Kroger as a clerk in Huntington Beach, Calif., in 1972.

He worked his way up the ladder at the company’s Food 4 Less division. In 2002 he was named vice president and general manager of its Midwest Division, where he led expansion of the price-impact warehouse store format. In 2004, Cummins was named president of Food 4 Less. In 2007, he became president of Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic Division.

He assumed his current role in 2014 at Salt Lake City-based Smith’s, which operates 139 stores in seven Western states. Cummins also serves on the board of the Western Association of Food Chains.