CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. said Monday that Jay Cummins, president of the company’s Smith’s division, plans to retire on April 29.

His replacement will be announced at a later date, according to the company.

Cummins began his Kroger career in 1972 as a clerk at a store in Huntington Beach, Calif. He went on to serve in positions of increasing responsibility in store and district management and in grocery merchandising for the company’s Food 4 Less division.  He was named vice president and general manager of the Food 4 Less Midwest division in 2002, and in that role he led the expansion of the Food 4 Less price impact warehouse store format in the Chicago area. In 2004, he was named president of the Food 4 Less division, which operates stores in California, Illinois and Indiana. In 2007 he was named president of Kroger’s  Mid-Atlantic division in 2007 before assuming his current role in 2014.

In 2014 Cummins was named to his current position as president of the Salt Lake City-based Smith’s chain, which operates 139 stores in seven western states.

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