European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 29, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday May 29, 1937 letters Reader cafes differ on electronics sales 1 disagree with rep. Dan Daniels a a. Chairman of the morale welfare and recreation incl. He stated in a recent article the army leadership is now looking at re aligning the mar business activities under audio clubs have been around now Tor 25 years providing services and they Stilt Are threatened after numerous attempts to close their doors. Audio clubs offered he services first in Europe because the serv ices were not provided by cafes. After the clubs proved there was o demand and profits to be made cafes provided he services. The consumer should be aware of what is happening to the military Market especially with Home electronics. Recently cafes Europe lightened its control Over the electronics Market by putting pressure on the Japa Nese distributors simply if items arc offered to the audio clubs for resale those items would not be Pur chased for the cafes Slock assortment. The japanese distributors have conformed to cafes demands so the next time cafes is out of Stock you will not find list item elsewhere. In the past you could find inc item in a club com paring and choosing where you would Purchase. Can you imagine in the United states a department store Chain in a major City stating to the distributors of goods that it wants exclusivity in the slain you As customers of these two facilities would know that by both offer totally different services maybe the same electronics bul you find in clubs pre Sale assistance from qualified personnel warranty and non warranty services video rental programs photo processing special orders for those items not stocked drop shipments and Many More under one facility. In recent months you have seen cafes change its merchandising or display items companies grouped to Gether in mass displays this was first at your audio clubs. Cafes noticed the potential of these display methods and changed. If the audio clubs were not providing inc services they provide successfully cafes would not have noticed heir Success and so desire to close their doors in the past and so today. Cafes is in the process of monopolizing All food concessions on Pur basis and posts. It will not Slop there fellow americans with the elimination of Competition As cafes says. It is believed that cafes would control availability selectivity and Price of those products we desire. Take Burger King for instance. 1 think rep. Daniels and cafes have forgotten Why we All Are Here to serve our country overseas. Mar activities and cafes arc Here to serve us to provide services and to generate profits to help make us self supporting and reduce inc monies spent by our govern ment. So the next Lime you visit one or both of Icse facilities remember you May Only have one of the facilities to visit in the future one place to shop and nowhere to compare and improve. Marc b. Graham somber get Ninny editor s note col. Donald e. Gilbert vice commander he cafes Europe replies rather than spending time stomping tour grapes let s Fate a moment to look at some of the realities surrounding this whale Issue. Army and air farce mar resale activities to include audio clubs have until recently received sub Stantial appropriated fund support from Congress the limes they Are a Chang Inland by congressional Man Date such activities arc to become Marc self sufficient. As a Mailer of fact. Congress has reduced the amount of appropriated funds for mar activities by $32,5 Mil lion Tor the army and $21.5 million for the air Force about 5 percent in fiscal 1987, and More could be Cut in 1988-91. This will intensify the need for cafes dividends to support the army and air Force mar programs. What s thai mean cafes mar managers and local commanders must look Al a variety of Initia Tives to streamline and enhance mar activities while meeting ibis new financial Challenge. In this Light it s important to emphasize that both army Ond air Force regulations establish cafes As the primary retailer an military installations. The cafes Mission to provide goods and services Al uniformly Low prices while generating earnings for army and air Force mar funds takes on an even greater significance during these financial 1 challenging times. In him several army and air Force communities have recognized thai cafes As a professional retail organization can do several of these jobs better. They have invited cafes participation in order to provide the desired Tern of senior Ami to is realize income supporting Community self sufficiency while supporting the cafes Mission All at the same time. Cafes initiative in audio video Are driven by our Mission of meeting customer requirements while generating earnings i mar. With respect to pricing we Are Able to offer our customer Che Best value in that cafes buys direct from the manufacturer eliminating the middlemen. We buy for less because of our Large volume. A third Factor is professional capability Loas sess International Money markets and Price bends to buy at flip right time feel you missed the Mark on Stock assortment cafes has t asked vendors for exclusivity but retains the right As do audio clubs to select its Slock assortment. Cafes attempts to provide the widest pos sible Choice to the customer. Hour could thai be the Cue if the Exchange and audio clubs had identical items in their stores virtually every piece of electronic equip ment has a comparable item in another Brand. Since neither cafes nor audio clubs can offer Emy item manufactured Why pot offer As Many brands at possible through diversified Slock user tents As for warranty concerns believe Ibe cafes warranty program to be one of the Best. We re the warranty agent in Europe for All product we Purchase. Man note lures give us the guarantee and we give it to our customers. That guarantee goes with our customer wherever they re assigned and is honoured at cafes outlets worldwide. Bottom line cafes and mar tie a cooperative Cam mutually intent on meeting the needs of sol Diers airmen and i her families in Europe. Competition in the marketplace be it cafes mar or retail outlet on the Economy is healthy. The smart shop per ultimately determines who s providing the Best value in merchandise and service for the Dollar. In the final analysis cafes simply must provide More earnings interpret that As dividends to sup port mar activities while receiving ims in appropriated fund support. This Challenge will increase id inc coming years and make it even More critical that we As or Tai As All mar activities closely manage oar operating expenses improve managerial practices bold inventory investments id � minimum and continually look for increased tales opportunities. It s a Nutter of Iwine aggressive and creating your own destiny rather than ref reacting to outside Mii Utic ii Usa eur clarifies cola computation policy recent Issue of the stars and stripes have contained stories and information about Cost Omi ving allowances and the failing value of the Dollar. The people supporting this letter Are very concerned with How cola is computed for various units and areas. It is our understanding that cola is computed by the unit Apo number. We Are a group of people living in he Ein Selthum leased housing area Between Worms and Kaiserslautern. The people living Here work at Remote site units which have two Apo numbers. These units Ore All considered Remote Sites under the meierhof sub con Unity even though they do not receive Remote site pay. At one time Northpoint was considered a Remote site and received the pay but now it seems that its front Gale is a few feel too dose to Worms. Another unit s flagpole is a foot Loo close even though we Are All considered to he Remote isolated Sites we receive the same full support cola thai the and Sembach area military receive. It is our understanding that cola is a Cost of living expense designed to help people when the value of the Dollar is Tow. We receive he same cola thai people in the areas do that have their commissary clinic filling station Etc. Within a close proximity. We must drive to Worms 20 Kilometres or Sembach 26 kilo meters to go to the clinic the commissary or gel Gas for our ears. All of the units and housing areas for these units Are 20 to 50 Kilometres from Sembach and Worms. We understand thai in Remote areas we must expect to undergo some hardship but cola is designed to help with some of this hardship. It seems very unfair that because cola is figured by Apo numbers we should set shortchanged. We have contacted our commanders on this policy but they have not been Able to get any action taken. We would like to have this matter brought before the appropriate Agency that could Institute a change in this policy. Perhaps it would be better to have cola computed by specific units or by the German postal equiv Alent to the zip code. We know thai the army is always looking for ways to save Money and this is probably Why the policy has never been changed. But if an allowance is authorized for service members we feel that it should be distributed in a fairer manner. In these Low Dollar times even $20 or $30 a month More can help a lot. The Ein Selthum area concerned citizens. Editor s note sic. Michael Donahue office of the Deputy chief of staff resource management he Usa eur replies thank you for your Teller and the Opportunity to Clar Ify two common misconceptions. First Here has never been an allowance culled re Mote site pay. Second cola is not computed by unit Apo numbers. The amount of cola received is determined by pay grades years of service number of command sponsored dependents Ami duly location support designations. These designations Ore called full partial and no sup port. Support designations Are determined by the per diem travel and transportation allowance commit tee pm tatar and an published in joint Federal travel regulations a for volume i. If Yew unit docs not have a copy you May review it in your Serra dog finance office. Full support areas Are defined As stations with commissary and Exchange facilities or with Access to Inch facilities within a one Way distance of 50 Miles or let and one Way travel time by privately owned vehicle of lets than one hour. Based on your information. It appears full support designation is warranted commanders desiring a review of cola support designations should submit request outlined in can Cusa eur message a age is jw1j51z april 1986, subject designation of support areas for cd of living allowance cola this message whih i provided at All commanders conferences command sergeant major Cannes and sergeant morale meet Ings is also available in local finance offices. The additional cola you received in you March end of Mon i checks was the result of a Dod and army commitment of keep allowances current with the declining Dollar. The additional cola will Cost inc army $29 million and is not included in this year s budget. The decision however was made to pay Sot a Lars now and find the Money later. Be assured your leaders care and will continue to take Steps to reduce the effect of the declining Dollar. Pen pals Puhi incl us my no in your pan pal column. I a j or Road Lii Macy Stundl my lnaprtdfvu3i so. 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