Meet the Executives
Michael L. Ellis is President of Fred Meyer Stores. He was born and raised in Vancouver, WA, and began his career with Fred Meyer as a Parcel Clerk at the Fourth Plain store when he was 16 years old. Mike soon moved up to Food Manager and worked at several stores before moving to the Fred Meyer Main Office in Portland in 1989 as a Frozen Food Buyer. In 1992, he was named Director of Grocery and worked his way up through Fred Meyer’s Food Group until 1999 when he was named Senior Vice President of the Food Group.
Lynn Gust is Executive Vice President of Operations. Lynn is from Vancouver, WA, and while in high school he joined the Fourth Plain Fred Meyer as a Parcel Clerk. He entered the food management program and later became a Food Manager in 1981. Lynn has held many positions including Training Coordinator, Grocery Buyer, Director of Grocery Sales and Group Vice President of Special Projects. In 1997, he attended the Cornell Food Executive Program. Lynn became Senior Vice President of Store Operations in 2003 and Senior Vice President of the Food Group in 2006.
David Deatherage is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He is from St. Joseph, Mo, and studied accounting at the University of Southern Colorado. David joined Dillon Companies/Kroger in 1991 as Assistant Controller for the Loaf n’ Jug convenience stores in Colorado. He went on to be Controller for Quick Stop Markets in California, City Markets in Colorado and King Soopers. He joined Fred Meyer in 1999 and was soon promoted to Group Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Molly Malone is Senior Vice President and Director of the General Group. She studied marketing at the University of Oregon and has more than 30 years experience in apparel and home merchandising and management, including 14 years at Meier & Frank and 10 years at Troutman’s Emporium. Molly began her career with Fred Meyer as the Vice President for Housewares, Toys and Seasonal, then was promoted to Group Vice President of the Apparel Division.
Robert Clark is Senior Vice President and Director of the Food Group. Robert began his career with the Kroger Corporation in 1985 as a courtesy clerk at Fry’s Food Stores in Arizona. Since then, he has held various leadership positions, including store and district management as well as in Grocery Merchandising. He joined Fred Meyer Stores in October 2011.