CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. has named two divisional presidents.

Kroger Co. has named two divisional presidents.

Jay Cummins has been appointed president of the Smith’s Food and Drug Stores division, based in Salt Lake City. He succeeds Mark Tuffin, who was promoted to senior vice president of retail divisions in December 2013.

A 40-year retail veteran, Cummins had been president of Kroger’s Mid-Atlantic division. He started his career in 1972 as a clerk at Food 4 Less in Southern California and rose through the management ranks at the warehouse store chain until being named president of that division in 2004.

The Smith’s division encompasses 131 stores in seven Western states, while the Mid-Atlantic division, with headquarters in Roanoke, Va., includes 121 stores in six states ranging from Virginia to Ohio.

Succeeding Cummins as president of the Mid-Atlantic division is Joe Fey, who was president of the Quality Food Centers (QFC) division based in Seattle. Like Cummins, Fey began his career with Kroger in 1972 while a student at Indiana University.

He moved up through a succession of merchandising management positions in Kroger’s Central division and then at corporate headquarters in Cincinnati. In 1999, Fey was named vice president of merchandising for the Dillons division, and then took the same role in Kroger’s Michigan division in 2008. He was promoted to president of the QFC division in 2011.