Kroger Leaders Stress Intentional Care in Leadership
Kroger executives Julie Auflick and Victor Smith shared their leadership experiences at Grocery Impact 2026 in Orlando, Florida.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Business Strategy
At Grocery Impact 2026 in Orlando, Florida, Kroger executives discussed leading with intentional care. Julie Auflick, VP of merchandising, and Victor Smith, SVP of Retail Divisions, presented their experiences on stage.
Why it matters
The discussion offers a view of how a major U.S. grocery company frames its management culture. Leaders describe candid feedback delivered with care as a way to open honest conversations.
No quantitative operational metrics were reported in the source material. The remarks were qualitative accounts of leadership experience shared at the event.
The players
Kroger
The Kroger Co. is a major American supermarket chain operating retail divisions across the United States.
Julie Auflick
Julie Auflick is Kroger's vice president of merchandising, who previously worked as a district manager for the Fred Meyer division.
Victor Smith
Victor Smith is Kroger's senior vice president of Retail Divisions, who made a lateral move to learn an unfamiliar part of the business.
The details
Auflick described being asked by her VP to take a lateral district management role instead of a produce and grocery merchandising move, having previously worked as a district manager for the Fred Meyer division. Smith said he made a lateral move to learn a part of the business he had not experienced, and said leading with care opens up honest conversations.
Timeline
2026: Grocery Impact 2026 event in Orlando, Florida, where the executives spoke.
Market Landscape
The remarks were delivered at Grocery Impact 2026, an industry gathering where grocery executives present management approaches to peers. The source does not describe how these leadership practices compare with competitors' approaches.
The source does not describe any change to prices, product availability, or services for customers. The leadership discussion concerns internal management practices at Kroger.
The takeaway
Leaders at Kroger say candid feedback is most useful when delivered with care, and that lateral moves can help managers understand parts of the business they have not experienced. These are management practices that other organizations can consider when building feedback and development processes.
Further reading
Explore more on business strategy developments in the grocery sector.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Progressive Grocer.
