Dive Brief:
- Circana has appointed top-level Kroger marketing executive Stuart Aitken as president and CEO, the retail data analytics company announced Monday. Aitken will also become a board director of the data and insights firm.
- Aitken will take over the role on Jan. 1, 2025, from Kirk Perry, who is retiring.
- Aitken brings broad experience leading data-focused organizations like Dunnhumby and 84.51° to his new position as head of Circana.
Dive Insight:
Aitken will become Circana’s chief executive after serving as chief merchandising and marketing officer of Kroger since 2020. Kroger announced on Friday that Aitken will leave the supermarket operator at the end of the year.
At Kroger, Aitken has been responsible for functions including sales, pricing and category planning in addition to overseeing its data analysis operations.
In a press release about Aitken’s appointment, Circana said it was drawn to Aitken’s development of “a more customer centric approach to merchandising and marketing at Kroger with a focus on driving high margin digital revenue streams including data/analytics and retail-media.” Those achievements led to “significant value creation” for Kroger and companies the grocer works with, Circana said.
“As part of the company’s succession planning process, Kirk and the rest of the Circana Board have been focused on identifying the ideal candidate to lead Circana well into the future, and we are confident we have found that in Stuart,” Tod Johnson, chair of Circana’s board, said in a statement. “His passionate leadership, strategic and innovative mindset, and extensive experience across the retail, technology, and data/analytics industries will create value for our company, our people, and the clients we serve globally.”
Aitken joined Kroger’s management team after serving as CEO of 84.51°, the grocer’s in-house data analysis subsidiary. He also led 84.51°’s predecessor, Dunnhumby USA, before that company moved under Kroger’s stewardship in 2015. Earlier in his career, Aitken held roles at retailers including Safeway and Michaels.
Aitken is the second Kroger C-suite member to leave the grocery chain in 2024 for a high-level position at another organization. The retailer’s former CFO, Gary Millerchip — an architect of the company’s planned merger with Albertsons — left earlier in the year to become finance chief of Costco.
