Takeaways from the 2017 Kroger Investment Conference: Restocking Kroger

Executive Summary

The FGRT team attended Kroger’s 2017 Investment Conference, held at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Selected takeaways from the meeting include:

• Kroger reiterated its fiscal 2017 guidance despite the summer weather disasters and offered a preliminary look at fiscal 2018.
• The company is seeking strategic alternatives for its convenience-store business.
• Management announced a four-part plan for creating shareholder value whose name, Restock Kroger, is a play on words.
• Kroger uses data and science to develop a personalized experience for each of its customers.
• The company will use its massive data analysis capabilities to optimize the shelf and floor space in every store as part of a space optimization plan.
• Kroger plans to generate more revenue from its private-label brands.
• The company is living its corporate values in terms of reducing waste and hunger.
• The Restock Kroger plan aims to generate an incremental $400 million of cash over three years that could be returned to shareholders.