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Who’s Susan Morris? Albertsons exec from Denver would run merger’s divested stores | Business
Since the first day of trial in Colorado, lawyers for Kroger and Albertsons have repeatedly brought up the name of a grocery executive they believe has the adequate experience to run more than 500 divested stores: Susan Morris.
Morris, the current chief operating officer at Albertsons, will be a key figure for the future of 579 Albertsons stores across the nation — 91 of which are in Colorado — if the merger goes through.
If the $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons is allowed by courts in Colorado, Washington and in Oregon, Morris will move over to C&S Wholesale Grocers to be the company’s “CEO of Retail,” a new role created to manage the divested stores.
The retail distributor being accused by Colorado of being a “retail liquidator” would get exclusive rights to the Safeway brand in the state and Arizona. C&S Wholesale Grocers would also get a distribution center and dairy plant in Denver. Kroger, the parent company of King Soopers and City Market, would acquire 14 stores in the state.
In Kroger’s defense, executives testified that the divestiture buyer will get everything it needs to succeed in Colorado: the stores, Safeway brand rights, parts of the supply chain, Albertsons technology — and its people.
Lawyers for the grocers have sought to counter Colorado’s claims alleging C&S Wholesale Grocers is inadequate to operate retail stores by saying Albertsons is handing over some of its top talent to the divestiture buyer, including Morris, who will continue managing the same stores they’ve known for years.
The lawyers have also stressed another important aspect about Morris as for why she wouldn’t want the merger to fail — she’s from Denver and she directly ran many of the region’s stores long before she joined Albertsons’ top brass.
“This is my home,” Morris testified on Tuesday morning in Denver District Court.
Morris began her career in high school at 16 working as an Albertsons customer service clerk in Denver.
She went to Colorado State University and continued to work throughout college with the grocer.
After she graduated, she went to the grocer’s division office on Tower Road and was responsible for data entry for pricing of Colorado stores. She worked her way to run the Denver division and then went to the Intermountain Division in charge of Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana stores.
In 2018, she was promoted to the top ranks of Albertsons as COO.
Her Denver background is a frequent point brought forth by the grocers’ defense of its divestiture throughout the trial as an extra asset to ensure Colorado’s stores will transition smoothly. She’s a seasoned executive with local roots and expertise in retail operations, Kroger attorney Matt Wolf said in his opening argument — not real estate liquidation.
Kroger-Albertsons merger trial: Colorado, grocers offer opening arguments
“I have no interest in going somewhere and flipping stores and selling them immediately. I want to run stores. I like to build businesses,” Morris said from the stand. “That’s what I want to do. I’d like to build this business.”
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Alongside her, Albertsons Denver Division President Todd Broderick and Executive Vice President of the West Michelle Larson will also join C&S Wholesale Grocers if the merger clears legal hurdles.
Morris testified she’s seen C&S Wholesale Grocers struggle with other retail acquisitions, but the effort to essentially build a new retail division from scratch and use her team gave her confidence.
She said she is excited by the challenge to lead and build a “smaller, agile organization that has the strength of a really powerful supply chain behind it.”
Morris has a four-year agreement with the wholesaler based on the performance of the stores, she testified.
Albertsons Chief Operating Officer Susan Morris testified Tuesday in the state of Colorado’s case attempting to stop the merger of Kroger and Albertsons.
Courtesy photo, Albertstons
But lawyers representing Colorado aren’t fully buying the grocers’ case on recent talent acquisitions due to the timing of her hiring. Colorado is arguing Kroger intentionally looked for a weaker competitor to buy stores to reduce its competition, which the grocer denies.
Morris was tapped in July to join C&S Wholesale Grocers if the merger goes through, as first reported by BoiseDev. The original divestiture package was released more than a year ago.
Colorado’s Senior Assistant Attorney General Jason Slothouber pressed Kroger’s CEO Rodney McMullen on Monday over this. McMullen testified Kroger knew C&S Wholesale Grocers didn’t have the sufficient talent when it was chosen as the divestiture buyer and it needed Albertsons talent to succeed. The CEO added he knew the company intended to get it, though it wasn’t clear at the time who they would get.
“When the divestiture package was agreed to, there was no provision that Susan Morris would go over to C&S?” Slothouber asked.
“Correct,” McMullen said.
Morris herself was skeptical of the merger at first and sent an email to division presidents under her helm after the announcement in 2022, expressing her anger at a time she said the grocery industry was doing very well because of the pandemic.
“I was surprised and a little sad,” Morris said on Tuesday.
She testified that she sent the message to express her feelings about the company she began her career at getting bought out. The division presidents learned about the merger several weeks after she did and she said wanted to show “empathy and compassion” for their initial reactions.
“But yes, my thoughts have evolved, especially in the changing environment that we have today,” she said.
The trial continues Wednesday.
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