Kroger Names Former Walmart Exec as Its New CEO

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Here's your Midday Brief for Monday, February 9th. I'm Alex Zosola for The Wall Street Journal. Grocery giant Kroger has named Greg Foran as its new CEO. He's a former executive at Walmart, a top rival. Kroger is the biggest grocer in the U.S. by sales after Walmart. It's been searching for a permanent leader for almost a year.

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Its longtime CEO Rodney McMullin had left last spring for an undisclosed ethics violation.

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Kroger shares were up about 6 percent in morning trading. The operator of Eddie Bauer stores in the U.S.

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and Canada has filed for bankruptcy. The company is seeking a buyer for the retail locations and will begin winding down store operations if a sale doesn't go through. Eddie Bauer has been in a tough spot for years. It's faced declining sales, supply chain challenges, and other issues.

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And Novo Nordisk has filed a lawsuit against HIMSS and HERS to stop the telehealth provider from selling copycat versions of its popular weight loss drugs. The Danish drugmaker says the versions of the medications that HIMSS and HERS sells don't come under the FDA's gold standard safety review process. It's seeking damages in its suit.