Grocer takes over at Rite Aid

Monday, Dec. 6, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

CAMP HILL, Pa. -- Troubled drugstore chain Rite Aid Corp. said it tapped a former executive at the nation's top supermarket chain to serve as its chairman and chief executive officer.

Robert G. Miller, 55, who served in top positions at the Kroger Co. and Oregon-based Fred Meyer Inc., will bring three former Fred Meyer executives with him when he assumes the post today, the company said.

Kroger owns Smith's Food & Drug and PriceRite stores in Las Vegas -- both chains were obtained when Kroger bought Fred Meyer.

Miller resigned Friday as chairman and chief operating officer at the Cincinnati-based Kroger. Miller had served as chief executive officer at Fred Meyer before Kroger bought the chain for $13.5 billion in May.

Miller will replace former top executive Martin L. Grass, who resigned Oct. 18 in the midst of financial woes at the nation's third-largest drugstore chain that caused its stock to tumble by more than 80 percent within a year. The company said at that time that it planned to restate its earnings downward by $500 million for the last three fiscal years.