Why do we need stateside commissaries anyway? I save a lot of money off base. So let’s just get rid of them.
There’s no question that commissaries overseas serve an incredibly important purpose. But back home? Unless you’re somewhere like Fort Irwin, Calif. (which is rural and wouldn’t be included in the plan anyway) you can probably see other grocery options from the gate. So why didn’t the DoD ditch the commissaries long ago?
According to the experts we spoke with, it all comes back to how the commissary system works. Overseas and rural stores rely on surcharge money raised at high volume stores for maintenance and upgrades. And all the sales at the big stores makes it possible for DeCA to negotiate good prices with food distributors.
Here’s a break down:
Keeping OCONUS and rural commissaries –the most needed yet most expensive stores for DeCA to operate because of their location and often low volume — opened and stocked requires the support of high volume stores in places like Fort Belvoir, Va. DeCA is able to deliver that 30 percent annual per military family savings they talk about because manufacturers give them low food prices based on the number of people who shop in stores worldwide.
Will prices at the remaining commissaries be impacted if DeCA shuts down half of its stores? Raezer says probably.
“Because if you’re negotiating with General Mills for Cherrios they can give you a good price because you’re not just selling to people at Fort Irwin you’re also selling to Fort Belvoir,” Raezer said. “If you have less volume will those manufacturers pick up the tab to support the transit cost to the rural stores?”
And remember the surcharge we talked about earlier? The surcharge money you spend at your local store helps fund new construction and upgrades system wide, Gordy and Raezer both said. Since, according to Gordy, 70 percent of DeCA’s current business and surcharge income comes from stores that would be included for closing in the plan, keeping the remaining 30 percent running will be difficult, Raezer said.
“Commissary costumers build commissary buildings through the surcharge. So if all of us aren’t paying our surcharge at the Fort Belvoirs anymore who is going to pay to build the new commissary at Fort Irwin or for the new IT system?” Raezer said. “That means those stores that are going to remain open are going to have newer infrastructure available, so those stores are going to go down hill.”
Read more: http://spousebuzz.com/blog/2013/11/commissary-closure-plan-everything-you-need-to-know.html#ixzz2lspSyput
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