European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Maj. John Pasternak of Wiesbaden West Germany checks out athletic garments at Hanau demo Sale. Demo continued from Page 13 assistance program Hap is distributed to underdeveloped countries throughout the world. Townsend said that very Little of the property turned in to his office is needed by the program which wants clothing and textiles. When re utilization efforts fail and the property is not needed by Hap Townsend turns Over the property for monthly retail sales. Its the Best buy in town he likes to think and those sales Are attended religiously by hundreds of buyers. Many of the patrons arrive hours before the Sale begins in order to be at the front of the line when the door opens. The Best buys Are usually whisked away within minutes. Quot Why not stand in line a couple of hours to get an item that costs five Bucks you can pay a Nice Little Penny for a stroller $109 value and they re going to get it for five or 10 Bucks Quot Townsend said. In the first Sale involving Sheinberg property 69 m880 pickup trucks and three m890 trucks will be available to id card holders in a retail Sale at Sheinberg at 10 . Friday. The trucks will have Price tags ranging from $400 to $800, depending on the Model from 1976 to 1979. A a the trucks Are the Only items Townsend plans to sell at Sheinberg. All other property from Sheinberg such As desks tables and other office furniture will be shipped to his warehouse and either re utilized or included in the retail sales and auctions at Hanau. The Hanau demo holds a retail Sale the first Friday a and an auction the third thursday a of each month. Sales Are announced on Page 2 of the stars and stripes. Townsend never sees the Money his office generates through re utilization and sales it goes directly to the . Treasury. Townsend explained that with the sealed bid Sale which is used Only after extensive retail and auction sales fail each item can Cost up to $300 in advertising in production printing and distribution charges. Quot it does t make sense Quot Townsend said. Quot this person gives us $200 for the vehicle and we say we made $200. But not to me. We lost Money. Wed have been better off if wed called him and said come take it out for nothing. Quot there s a lot of thought in management that goes into reducing the operations costs of my  but for the impending base closures Townsend feels he could be out of a Job if other managers were More prudent and careful about property that is usually improperly ordered. He is often shocked by the amount of property dealt to the demo because someone made a Gross miscalculation in an order. He Points to boxes upon boxes of Brand new punching bags for boxers stacked in his warehouse and shakes his head in bewilderment. Quot demo exists because somebody out there bought too much Quot Townsend said. Quot they done to know How to manage. If it were their business and they operated it that Way they d be out of business within a  demo sales seem to Lack Little in variety soldiers Here Are about to haul away just bought furniture. Sas photos by Dave Didio the Guys who la lock the doors. By Ron Mckinney staff writer whenever . Military bases in Europe Are vacated a representative of the defense re utilization and marketing service in Wiesbaden West Germany will probably claim the distinction of turning out the lights and hanging the Quot gone fishing Quot sign at the last base to close. And by that time he a Gonna be plumb tuckered out from re utilizing Selling auctioning and donating stuff that s been left behind in the vacant offices and installations. Quot we expect a fairly substantial workload increase Here in the course of draw Down Quot said Bob Hirschmann chief of the operations Branch for the european Region of arms which is Headquarters to 31 Branch offices in Europe. In a strange twist of logic arms will probably be facing the same cutbacks As any other government Agency through the budget cuts. Nonetheless its roles will be expanded while the bases close As a result of those same cuts. The european regional office has requested More manpower and additional temporary duty funds from its Headquarters at Battle Creek Mich. Quot our Headquarters has to Deal with the fact that they re also closing Down bases All Over the United states and they be got the same cry coming from our sister regions Quot Hirschmann said. In or i i a it i or a. Prospective customers line up Early outside the wan mils amp full be to get first grabs at Hanau demo Sale. M m two soldiers carry out a Dresser while a couple nem specs a baby Playpen that looks like a Good buy. Quot we re probably not going to get much of a  the operations chief is concerned that the department of defense May expedite the draw Down in troops. If numerous bases Are closed simultaneously his assets May be spread too thin to provide the necessary services with the current number of personnel and temporary duty funds at the 31 demo agencies in Europe. A if it tries to go too fast that might overwhelm us there a no question about it Quot Hirschmann said. Quot we can to be everywhere and do everything at once. Quot the services recognize the same potential problem so they re keeping us As informed As possible. I think if we work closely with them we will be Able to overcome an awful lot of the problems that could arise. Another concern is a term coined by Hirschmann As the Quot Ripple  units that May receive better office equipment at one of the closing bases will turn in Tneia older equipment at their Home base. Quot we Hope its going to spread itself out. There s absolutely no Way to determine where that secondary Ripple effect is going to take place Quot Hirschmann Sai _ Quot but we Are comfortable that with our planning we. Do what needs to be done to make this withdrawal g a smooth  Quot re utilization dollars could go up Quot Hirschmann said. Quot numbers Are Nice but we re not so interest numbers As we Are in getting the Mission done an making sure we done to waste any  when the bases close Hirschmann expects. Fresk receive Large quantities of furniture file cabinets 1 bookcases tables chairs and other office equipment. There should also be a few m880 trucks available for retail sales. The goal is to have every piece of property committed to other bases or sold at its installation in ight of limited transportation resources and storage rapacity Hirschmann said. Everything goes As planned the Only item the outgoing units will pass on to the local demo will be paperwork to document the transferal of property. There a going to be a lot More of this kind of property than we can possibly profitably sell to to Skody no matter what kind of Price we stick on it. Pne demand will be saturated pretty Quick Quot l Loschmann said referring to the dwindling number of users As the bases close and troops Are returned to Fie United states the arms has to look at an entirely different marketing strategy to prepare for the Complete removal pops from Europe. Property will either have to be f the a ermans or donated to Charity groups. L e re looking at a lot of places where we can Lna a furniture to better serve humanity rather fan taking it out and throwing it in a Landfill Quot a Schmann said. Hurschmann contends that when the a rms l pins abilities Are concluded in Europe there wont be Urf to on any bases. There will simply be i pay buildings waiting to be occupied. Lri Tefu Quot Ywe turn 9hts and lock the him 1 r,lrscl1mann said. Quot we almost have to be the Puy who lock the  a \ 3 a. Mecca for bargain seekers hottest items Are usually sold a half hour after warehouse doors open. By Ron Mckinney staff writer hours before the doors opened sgt. Michael Brezial gripped the door handle to defend his position and then waited patiently As a line began to form behind him. No he Wasny to waiting to buy tickets to a Paula Abdul concert. It Wasny to even a super bowl tickets Giveaway. He and dozens of others were willing to stand in line for More than two hours for something they deemed even More important. It was an Arena within which the Little Guy can Force the big bully to his Knees and Force him to cough up the goods with some herculean savings attached. Its called the demo retail Sale. Brezial was the first of about 300 people to crowd into the three hour Long retail Sale held the first Friday of each month by the defense and re utilization marketing office in Hanau West Germany. Furniture tools sweatsuits televisions and other goods can be bought with super savings. The hottest property is usually gone within half an hour of the opening Bell. A desk goes for $2 at this Sale. Sweatsuits for 50 cents. A color to can be bought for As Little As $20. To get what you want at this Madhouse the trick is to be near the front of the line and to know what you re looking for. When the door opens the race is on. Quot you get the first pick Quot Brezial said explaining Why he stood at the door for two hours. He hiked a thumb in the direction of stereo speakers he had gladly paid $50 for. With another $50 in his pocket Brezial wedged his Way through the crowd surrounding a Large crate full of automotive tools. Jennifer Boguhn a tested Veteran of six of these sales was looking for Patio furniture. Her advanced pregnancy Wasny to about to slow her in a venue where Success is dependent on fast feet and Quick decisions. Once inside the Sale she raced to the infant s Section and bought a changing table and a crib for $1 each. Seconds later Boguhn was on the Hunt again. Quot you be got to run fast Quot she said. Quot in 45 minutes everything will be picked. But you can t buy too much or it wont fit in your  sgt. Ronald Laub was willing to take a Chance on buying a portable stereo for $15 and a receiver for $10. At the demo retail Sale the rules Are that you get what you pay for in an Quot As is condition and it must be off the premises by the end of the Sale. Quot if it does no to work you can take it to the pick up Point and get it fixed. Pay to have it repaired and you re still making out Quot Laub said. The demo building was swamped with buyers As they raced to find the Best bargains. Potential shoppers traded elbows for better positions As they assessed everything from video cassette recorders to books footlockers to bookcases stereos to chairs playpens to boots. A Safe distance from the commotion one Man stood at the far end of the building and silently observed the activity. Quot just scouting checking it out Quot said staff sgt. Michael Goree who was a Rookie at the Sale although he was packed with $200. You never know you might run across something you need Quot Goree said. Quot maybe when i walk around and if something appeals to me i might get  Brigitte Quot Gigi Quot Strom was carrying a Load of Gray sweatsuits Over one  and six sales tags for night tables were clutched in her free hand. That s the kind of stuff they children can ruin and you done to cry about it Quot she explained. Even at a Sale where decent furniture and other items can be purchased at Cut rate prices not everyone is going to walk away with a smiling face and a loaded pickup truck. Sgt. Pearl Wilson said this was her first Sale a and she was t coming Back. Quot in a not really impressed Quot she said. Quot i thought it was defective stuff from the pm. I did t know it was used government  others complained that people had Cut in line at the front just before the door opened. For the first time germans were allowed to shop at the retail Sale. Quot we have a lot of items that we cannot sell to id card holders because they re just not interested in them Quot said Ute Dornhecker a property marketing specialist. Dornhecker explained that disposal of property costs 800 Marks per Container that a German contractor hauls to the dump once a month for the demo and opening the door to germans was a Way of curtailing those costs. About 20 germans were at the Sale she said. And while some people walked away moaning and groaning there were some whose Only complaint was that they did no to have a moving Van to allow them More space to buy More property. Outside the building one Man and his sidekick stood guard Over their pile of purchases. Two chests of drawers a desk and three televisions were among the goodies. Quot this is Good stuff Quot the Man said speaking on condition of anonymity. He pointed to a Chest of drawers almost As tall As he was. Quot fifteen dollars for a solid Oak Chest of drawers. You can t buy this downtown for $100, even $200. And it just needs to be refinished. I bought a to last time for $20 and it works better than the big one i have. Quot i spent $110 a and 25 cents because i got one of these for a Quarter Quot he added proudly holding a Dave Brubeck quartet cassette. Quot this la drive my stepdaughter and future son in Law right out of the House Quot he said grinning mischievously. 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